The Great Balloon Blowout
by shadowlugia249
Summary: A Balloon Novel. Starring Tails, Lugia, Blaziken, Yoshi, Krystal and Flammie. Plushtopia has a huge sale in which a game fanatic buys SIX different balloon characters. He has no idea what he's gotten himself into...


**The Great Balloon Blowout: The Novel**

_By shadowlugia249_

Author's Note: This is a first, even for me. I am going to attempt something that I doubt anyone has ever tried before. That is to use a combination of balloons, characters from different medias and even a transformation thrown in the mix and come up with my first multi-character story since "Dreams Come True Anthology". If this works, I hope to start a whole new concept of balloons and transformation-based stories.

(Based on a "true" story)

**Prologue**

Now that Plushtopia was back in business, Karmen Aridos was making big plans for his comeback. And to start, he was trying to make heads or tails of a new shipment of products from his superior. He had never before received so many packages at one time, even in his busiest years. They had all come in one large box that had been too big to ship via Air Mail. He had had to sign for the package from the UPS delivery system. The person who had stopped by his shop had never before delivered such a large package to someone's front door before. It was packaged in layers in a rectangular package that was as long as Aridos was tall. It wasn't until he had read the note that he realized that it was a special order directly from his superior. And when he had opened it, he was surprised to find the largest number of packages he had seen thus far all wrapped in their own individual sections of the box. With eight different items to sift through, this was going to be a hefty order.

He had no idea what his superior had in mind by giving him this many items to sell. Normally, he got just one thing at a time to sell to one person at a time, but _eight?_ Who could be _this_ special to get _this_ many items brought into his or her life? And since all of his orders were sold to one person at a time, there was someone _very_ special out there who was going to have his life changed eight times over sometime soon.

When Aridos had opened all seven of the packages, he was even more surprised to find that they were all roughly the same item. They were all in similar packages and the designs on them were all related to one another. He had sold this kind of item before, but never in bulk like this. Whoever was to receive these items must have been under a decent amount of surveillance by his superior before being chosen as his next customer.

To make heads or tails of the situation, Aridos started by reading the sales note that came with every one of his orders from his superior. This would probably clear up any of his questions that he might have.

Dear Mr. Aridos,

Don't be overwhelmed by the number of items I have sent to you; they all go to the same person in the end. I have done extensive research on the person who it to receive these items and personally could not come to a definitive conclusion on what products to sell to him. So against the judgment of the Wizard's Council, I have decided to bend the rules and send him every one of them.

In these packages are six B-type Synthetic creatures whose origins have come from far and wide. It has come to my attention that once they were all manufactured, a glitch in the system unfortunately selected the same individual as their owner. Because of this error, seven of them were to be destroyed before being reconfigured. But I could not bring myself to destroy such wonderful creations. Therefore, I have sent them all to you to be sold to the individual enclosed with this order.

Like all of my previous orders, they are all very intelligent and will be able to make their own decisions in time. And like most of the other ones, they have all been programmed with the intent to convert. This is a problem since no person has ever been converted into more than one creature before. So for the first time, I have divided the power of conversion among these eight individuals. Only when all eight of them are together will they be able to fulfill their purpose. It took some time, but I have found a form that the owner will find suitable, even though it is not the same as any of these eight individuals.

This is the most important order I have ever produced, Mr. Aridos. Should you pull this off, you will automatically be inducted into the Wizard's Hall of Fame. This is an enormous honor for you and all involved, so I hope that you are up for it. Good luck and Godspeed!

Signed...

Once again, the familiar five-point broken star marked his superior's signature. Aridos had yet to discover who it belonged to, but that was beside the point at the moment.

To be automatically inducted into the Wizard's Hall of Fame was such a massive leap in status that it was previously unheard of. He knew that he was going to hands full with this order, but it was all going to be worth it, should he pull this off. Selling eight different products to the same person was something no wizard had ever pulled off before, but this was his chance to pull off the biggest sale in the entire history of the wizarding world.

Well... he might as well get started...

They call me the Game Maniac around here. I've played and mastered so many different video games that I've practically achieved legendary status in the video game world. But even so, I feel that my circumstances are somewhat limited. The only systems I have at the moment are a Playstation 2, a Gamecube and a Nintendo DS. But even so, I've played so many games that I pretty much have mastered all of the games that I own for them...

...okay, I lied. I call _myself_ the Game Maniac. The reason I do is because I have pretty much mastered every game I have bought and played in my life. Even though I only have a PS2, a Gamecube and a DS, I still feel that my prowess in the video game world has exceeded most of the people I have met.

I specialize in several different games among the three systems. For Gamecube, I have played Super Mario Sunshine, Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Pokémon XD and Starfox Adventures and Assault. For the Nintendo DS "and" GameBoy Advance, I have played and mastered Pokémon Diamond and Emerald and Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island. Finally, there is just one game I have specialized in for the Playstation 2 –Dawn of Mana.

I own many more games than this, but I'll tell you exactly why I chose to mention _these_ games. From each of the games, there are a number of different characters that I have always dreamed that I would meet in the real world. Yep, call me crazy, but it's always been a dream of mine and I don't care what you say.

From the different games, there have been seven different characters that I have kept my eyes on. From the Mario series, there is the "colorful", cuddly dinosaur known as "Yoshi". From the Pokémon series, there are three particular ones that I have specialized in: the fierce, determined fire-type warrior called "Blaziken", the bizarre and ultimate creature by the name of "Mewtwo", and the majestic, all knowing, magnificent Legendary Bird, "Lugia". From the Sonic series, I have kept my eye on Sonic's sidekick, the cute, cuddly and intelligent two-tailed fox called "Miles "Tails" Prower". From the Starfox series, a rather recent addition to the team is the beautiful and mysterious blue fox, "Krystal". And since it debuted way back on the SNES, for Dawn of Mana, there is the incredible four-winged, feathered beast by the name of "Flammie". These are all characters that I have dreamed for countless nights that I would meet either in this life or the next one.

But that was not all. I discovered the eighth and final creature in my lineup completely by accident. I had been browsing pictures online when I came across a unique creature named "Siron", which had been drawn by a Japanese artist called "Edmol". At first, I had thought nothing of it – even calling it a female – but after joining the online art community known as "deviantART", I learned that the creature in fact, was properly called "Shiron", who hailed from a cancelled anime called "Legendz" from the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan). And ever since that time, I have kept my eye on the most unusual dragon I had ever seen in my life.

So that's it: Tails, Lugia, Blaziken, Yoshi, Krystal, Flammie, Shiron and Mewtwo. All eight of them are without a doubt, in my opinion, the best characters of my generation. These are all characters that I one day dream of meeting in real life. And although that dream probably will never come true in this life, I look forward to the next one where anything I dream will come true whenever I want.

But alas... it is not to be. There is next to no real magic left in this world that would allow me to see any of these creatures in any place other than my dreams. It's a shame that true magic left this world long ago, but I can still dream of them at night before and after I go to bed.

But lately, I've heard rumors flying around that the apartment that I've been living in is "cursed". Every single last one of its occupants had come here and had disappeared without a trace within three months of moving in. No one knew what was causing these strange disappearances, but there was an unconfirmed rumor that it had something to do with a strange shop within eyesight of the apartment just down the road. Apparently, every one of those occupants had visited that shop at some point in their short stay. Shortly after they had returned, the people still in the apartments claimed to have heard unusual noises and sounds coming from this apartment. Not even a week later, the tenant would vanish completely and was never heard from again.

I had always believed in the supernatural, but I began to believe that something other than a ghost was involved here. Over a dozen different people had lived in this apartment over the past three years, and every one of them had disappeared under unexplained circumstances. Wondering if it could happen to me, I would go to bed at night, praying that something would happen that would grant me a new life away from here. I was only living here because the rent was insanely cheap and I had nowhere else to go. I barely made enough money on weekends with a paper route to get by with what I had to deal with. If I was lucky, I would get an extra weekend in certain months that gave me a little extra spending money to do with what I wanted.

So shortly after I had had one such month, I decided to put together what little funds I had and check out the shop that was somehow related to the mystery of this apartment.

It was called "Plushtopia" and specialized in normal and life-sized stuffed animals featuring the most unusual subjects anyone had ever seen. It was certainly colorful enough, but one glance around the shop told me that it was either going out of business or was just coming back into it. There was hardly anything on the shelves and the only thing that I could see was a display case on a stone pillar in the corner of the store. And even _that_ was empty.

There wasn't much to look at in this shop at the moment. There was a sign that said quite clearly, "Shipments delayed. Will arrive in 6-7 days." Damn. It seemed that I had gotten here too early.

But just before I was about to leave, I spotted something on display in the very center of the shop. Make that _eight_ things. What looked like eight various-colored, various-shaped balloons were each attached to a central podium.

I had never seen such massive balloons. The smallest was no less than four feet tall with the largest being large enough to touch both the floor and the ceiling at the same time. What's more, they all took the form of a different character with so much detail put into them that it was hard to believe that they were balloons at all.

Wait a minute... I had _seen_ these creatures before. That small, golden one took the form of a small fox with... yes, two tails! And one of the blue ones stood on two legs and looked a lot like... Krystal?! And the largest one of them all! It was an exact match and make to the Windragon of Legendz, Shiron! This was like a dream truly come true! Blaziken, Mewtwo, Yoshi... even Lugia and Flammie! They were all there! My eight favorite video game characters of all time were all here in balloon form! It was like something out of a fantasy come to life! At that moment, I ignored the fact that they were made of rubber. The detail and shapes of each of them was too real to ignore. I had to have them all!

But one look at the price for any of them all but killed my spirits. For just _one_ of them, the price stood at $14.99. That was _just_ under what I had to spend! I could not believe my luck! They were all there, but I didn't even have enough money to buy a _quarter_ of the. It _was_ _not_ fair! I was going to have to choose one of them now and hope that they stayed around long enough for me to get the others, which was highly unlikely.

"Can I help you?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin! From out of nowhere, an aged, decrepit old man with balding, white, wispy hair and more wrinkles than an old folk's home had appeared behind me and had nearly scared the living daylights out of me!

While trying to get my blood pressure under control, I turned around to see him hunched over and standing at a lower level than me, not looking up at me. I wanted to give this man a royal chewing, but something told me that _this_ was the owner of the shop. Such an action would certainly put any chance I had of owning any of these balloons in jeopardy.

"Can I help you?" he said again, still not looking at me. "You seem to be considering something."

How did he know that? I wasn't quite sure. But at the moment, I didn't care. I was faced with the biggest decision of my life and I couldn't make up my mind.

"I can't decide which one to get," I said, gesturing to the collection of balloon animals. "I want them all, but I only have enough for just one."

"Hmm... that _is_ a predicament, isn't it?" he said, looking past me at the group of balloons. "They were all made at once, so one without the others is very difficult for them." I had _no_ _idea_ what he meant by this, but I let him continue. "These are some of the most unusual balloons I have ever had in stock. I know that if one leaves, they'll all want to go with it."

This was something I had never heard before. Did this kooky old fart really think that the balloons had feelings? It was hard to believe, but this guy must be a few nuts short of a bushel.

But then again, maybe he was onto something. This place _did_ have a kind of a magical aura to it, despite its barren state. Maybe this was something I could and would never understand, but it was worth a shot.

"But I won't have enough for anymore for another month. They'll probably be gone by then."

The old man looked up at the dangling balloons and rubbed his chin with his hand, apparently thinking something over. It took a moment, but he finally reached a conclusion.

"I'll tell you what. You really seem to want all of these balloons rather badly, so how about this? I'll let you have one of them now for normal price for you to get started. Come back in two days and then I'll give you another. If they like you, I'll ignore any price and let you have the others free of charge."

This offer was way too good to be true. Was this guy really out of his mind?! Was he _really_ going to let me have them all? It was an offer that I was willing to accept.

"Wait... what's the catch?" I said suspiciously.

The old man shrugged. "No catch. No catch at all. All you need to do is make sure that they like you and you like them. If both of you are 100 percent satisfied with each other the day after tomorrow, the both of you can come back and I'll give you another one. As long as all of you are happy, I'll give you one more at a time until they are all yours. You won't have to pay me a cent more as long as all of you are satisfied with each other once you have them all."

This _was_ too good to be true! But it was! This old man was either too desperate to get a sale or he really didn't care what happened to any of them. I had to make absolutely sure, though.

"What do you mean by _all_ of us being happy?"

The old man shrugged again. "Exactly my point. You'll find out what that means when you get the first one open. Until then, would you like to pick out your first balloon?"

Even though I was almost guaranteed to get all of them, I was still having a difficult time picking out the first of the eight balloons. I couldn't decide who would be the most loyal and/or friendliest of all of them. They all had completely different personas in their origins, but at least _one_ of them had to be a good start.

I glanced at the old man, whom I felt was wasting his time standing here, but he simply shook his head and said, "Take your time. I'll be at the counter. When you find the one you want, bring the package up to the register and I'll ring it up for you." And with that, he shuffled off towards the front counter, where he grabbed a rag and began polishing the granite countertop.

I still couldn't decide who to start with. They all seemed to have traits that I wanted in a first friend, but I couldn't make up my mind. Finally getting fed up, I closed my eyes and spun around on my heel a few times, deciding to choose whichever one I pointed to. After nearly wiping out from my spinning, I finally stopped and pointed to...

"That one!" I said triumphantly.

I gladly went to the shelf and grabbed the correct package and went to bring it to the counter. It was a perfect start. It was small enough to fit in my apartment and it seemed to be one of the most innocent of all of them. I would get along just fine with it until I came back to choose another.

The old man looked at the package and then back up at me before he gave a rare smile that kind of spooked me a little. "I thought you'd choose him. He was the first one that arrived and he's been wanting a friend like you for some time. He'll be a fine choice for you." He rang up the price, which for some reason was exactly the same price as what it was advertised for: $14.99.

"Isn't there tax here?" I asked him innocently.

The old man frowned and grumbled to himself. I thought I had insulted him before he spoke. "I don't believe in taxing people. They work hard enough to get the money for the item in the first place. There's no sense in making people work harder than they should for a price that is suddenly out of their reach."

I wondered if this was a concern with the government, but he seemed honest enough. After all, I had had my fair share of disappointments because I had had enough money for a game but had come up too short because of taxes. As far as I was concerned, this guy was always looking out for the poor working man such as myself.

Once I had paid a ten and a five for the balloon and took my penny back in change, I took the bag the old man had put the package in and carried it out of the shop. The old man waved behind me and said, "Good luck! See you in two days!"

Once I got home, I made sure to close every door and window that I could so that I would have as much privacy as I could when I inflated this balloon. I didn't know why, but I felt that there was more to the balloon than I was seeing, so I didn't want anyone else to see it.

When I was all set and ready, I finally went into my living room to get the balloon ready for inflation. Carefully tearing open the plastic that lined the top of the Ziploc bag, I slid the deflated balloon into my hand. It felt just like it should, but there was something... odd about it. It was like it radiated this special aura that I could not explain. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I decided to inflate it anyway.

The nozzle of this particular balloon was not what you would think it would be. Instead, I found a flap in the back of its "mouth" that served as a stopper for the air. It seemed that I would have to do a little Balloon CPR to inflate it. After I had sorted through the mass of colored rubber, I found its mouth and put it to my own before starting to blow.

With each of my breaths, the balloon seemed to gain amazing size and shape that wouldn't be possible with a regular party balloon. It was like my breath was like steroids because it grew and grew much faster than it should have. Pretty soon, all of the nooks and crannies had been filled, but it still wasn't at full size. However, unlike most balloons, the air I added after it was fully formed did not make it bulge out like it should have. Instead, it maintained its shaped and simply increased in scale instead of just plumping out.

Finally, I felt the resistance become too great and I stopped blowing. The flap in the back of its throat slid shut, trapping the air in its body and keeping its shape. It was finally at full size and I could bask in its glory.

"Tails, you are finally mine," I said triumphantly as it bobbed on its shoed feet in front of my couch.

The unmistakable form of Miles "Tails" Prower now bobbed in front of me, standing at only four feet tall but looking just as cuddly as the real thing was. Tails was – for lack of a better term – an anthro kitsune. He had the form of a two-legged golden-yellow fox with two "bushy" tails growing out behind him. They were golden as well except for a pair of white tips. He also had a patch of white "fur" on his chest and all over his short muzzle. The rest of him was golden-yellow all the way up to the three mohawk-like "hairs" sticking out of his forehead. He also had a pair of white, "gloved", five-fingered hands and a pair of pointed red-and-white shoes that enabled him to keep up with Sonic in the games. His head had two pointed ears on top of his "skull" and he had a pair of narrow, clear-blue pupils. His facial expression was molded into a cute smile with his mouth open a little ways and he had a cute little black nose on the tip of his muzzle. Finally, the fur on his muzzle grew out a little ways on each side of his face, giving him a couple of white "whiskers" off the side of his face.

I had loved Tails ever since he had debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 back on the Sega Genesis. He always had that little something that made him both adorable and intelligent at the same time. He was known for his tinkering in mechanics, which rivaled Dr. Eggman's best efforts at only eight years-old. After all, he had managed to transform his latest version of his plane, the Tornado in the mechanized walker known as the Cyclone that he used throughout Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Eggman simply added legs and guns to his Egg Ship to match it. Tails rules!

Now that I had him... what was I supposed to do with him? I had never had a life-sized Tails balloon before, so I was a little confused as to what to do with him. Was he just there to exist or was that old man onto something when he said that it had to "like" me before I got another one?

On a hunch, I went back to the package and emptied it for anything that I might have missed. To my surprise, a small piece of thin paper fell out of the bag and drifted to the floor. Picking it up, I saw that three words were written on it. The language was something that I had seen before, but I couldn't remember where. All I knew was that it said: "Unubo! Calo! Rhouxo!"

Nothing happened.

I didn't get it. It was just like I had recited a spell or something, but nothing was happening. Maybe it was a dud or it was just a scrap of paper that had been mistakenly packaged along with the balloon. But that didn't make any sense, either. What was the point of the paper and the words if it didn't do anything? And why did I get the feeling that I had heard this language before?

Anyway, I needed to think about what to do with the Tails balloon and go to the bathroom while I was at it. I needed to consider what to do with my new toy and relieve myself why I was at it.

While I was in the bathroom, I thought I heard something coming from the living room, but then it stopped. I was behind a closed door, so it might have been nothing. But a few seconds later, the sound perked up again. It sounded like my TV was on, but it didn't sound casual like a program. Instead, it sounded like my Gamecube was on. And judging from the music I was hearing, it was from Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Someone or some_thing_ was playing my Gamecube! Doing my best to finish up, I left the bathroom and made a beeline for the living room. But what I found defied all common logic.

Sitting in the middle of the floor with a controller in its hands and playing the Mission Street stage was the Tails balloon! It had come to life somehow! It was looking at the television screen with its eyes fixed straight ahead and its rubbery tongue sticking out of the corner of its mouth. I wasn't sure whether to yell at it or do nothing. It seemed to be doing rather well on the stage. Its score was high and its time was much faster than it had taken _me_ to get that high. All the while, its fingers were making squeaky music as they danced across the controller buttons.

It didn't seem to have noticed me yet, but I didn't want to startle it. Instead, I casually waited behind it and watched as it went through the stage. All the while, its two tails danced casually behind it, causing soft and gentle squeaks every time they rubbed together. It was doing pretty well for a balloon. It reached the stage's end in no time flat and scored an A Rank with over 40,000 points. I had never seen a score that high in that stage, even with _my_ best efforts. It hadn't gotten hit once and it had collected and/or decimated everything in its path.

While the totals were being tallied, the Tails balloon seemed to realize that I was standing behind it. It cringed for a moment before slowly turning around to look up at me. When it looked up at me with those narrow, blue eyes, it actually blinked and spoke directly to me.

"I'm sorry, Alex," it said in an exact match to its counterpart's voice in the game. "I guess I should have asked first."

It spoke! It actually spoke to me! What's more, it had said my name as if it had always known me! Now completely stunned, I looked down at the balloon for a moment before shaking my head.

"It's okay. You can play. In fact, I want to watch you." I hesitantly sat down on the chair adjacent to the balloon and watched curiously.

"Are you sure? You're not mad?" it said nervously.

"Not at all. Go ahead. I want to see how you do."

With a nervous look, Tails turned around at began playing again. I was wondering just how good "he" really was. I wondered if he could take what I called the "Green Hill Challenge".

The Green Hill Zone was the reward for getting all 180 emblems in the game. That, in itself, is no mean feat. To get that many A's and emblems meant that you have successfully conquered the game and to the victor go the spoils. As a reward, you got to play a 3D version of Sonic's very first stage – the Green Hill Zone. And while nothing happens if you get an "A" in that stage, just getting a "B" is a challenge in itself. I usually average a "C", but I've managed to get an "A" after many trials and errors of the stage.

Unbelievably, Tails went right for the question mark on the Stage Select screen that marked the Green Hill Zone. It was like he had read my mind and had gone for the most difficult stage to get an "A" that he could think of. I now sat back and watched the balloon go to work.

Holy (expletive)! This guy was G.O.O.D.! He not only managed to hit every ring and enemy without slowing down, but he somehow, he took the "long" ways to maximize his score along the way. I had never seen anyone trump me in _any_ game like that in my whole life! What was in that air-filled head of his that made him so good?!

In the end, Tails finished the stage in 1:30 flat with... wow... an A. And that was his first try, too! I could not compete with such greatness and finally admitted that this balloon was the real deal.

"How did you do that?" I asked when the big "A" was stamped on the bottom of the screen. "It took me forever to get a decent score on this stage and even longer to get an "A"."

Tails simply shrugged and set the controller on the floor. "I dunno. I guess I'm just a natural at it."

I looked at Tails for a while before stating the obvious. "So I guess you're really alive, huh?"

If balloons could blush, then Tails did a pretty good job of doing it. "Last time I check, I was. Is there something wrong with me?"

I suddenly became defensive. "No! There's nothing wrong at all! I just never thought that a balloon animal could come to life and beat me in a game on its very first try. I just wasn't expecting it is all."

Tails stood up and turned to face me. "Well, I'm alive now, and I guess that makes us friends."

This was a big step for someone who had just bounced into my life, but if a balloon wanted to be friends with me, then I was just fine with that. I had never had many friends in my life except for my online ones.

"So now that we're friends..." I said as Tails hopped onto the couch to sit next to me. "...what do you want to do?"

As if waiting for this question, I heard a sound that reminded me of someone's stomach churning. It was loud enough for Tails to look embarrassed and clutch his belly nervously.

"I don't suppose you have anything for me to eat, do you? I'm rather hungry."

I couldn't say no to _that_ face, so I got up and headed for the kitchen. "Sure. Whatever you want." But then I stopped in mid-step and turned around. "By the way... what _do_ you eat? I've never had to feed a balloon before."

Tails hopped down off the couch and walked over to me. "I'm made of rubber, so I guess it's rubber that I need to eat. Anything with any kind of latex in it would be fine if you have any."

This was a tricky situation. I never bought many things that had any rubber in them, so I was not sure what to look for. I didn't have any of those rubber dishwashing gloves that most people had... but...

On a hunch, I went to a closet where I had my cleaning supplies and reached up on the top shelf to grab something that I hoped was there. Sure enough, my hand found a box of unopened disposable latex cleaning gloves that I had yet to use. They were the rubber kind instead of the normal plastic one, but I wondered if Tails would eat them.

"Would these work?" I asked him, showing him the box.

Tails leaned over it and sniffed them curiously. I was unsure whether or not he could smell them through the cardboard, but soon enough, I found out.

"They smell good. Can I have some now?"

Figuring it wouldn't hurt, I pulled the cardboard cover off and pulled out a few of the cream-colored latex gloves. I then gave them to Tails, who held one up to his muzzle and sniffed it again. Then just like a person eating a bowl of noodles, he stuck out his tongue, which was red and rubbery like the rest of his mouth and pulled to glove into his mouth. I watched as he began to chew it, taking in its unique flavor and savoring it with each movement of his rubber jaws. Finally, he swallowed it and gave his analysis.

"That was good! It's nice and creamy and it seems to burst with flavor in every bite. It's got the kind of nutrition that I need to have thick, healthy skin and it never seems to lose its flavor."

I was glad that he had enjoyed it, but I was currently preoccupied with what was happening to the glove he had just eaten. The shredded pieces of the glove were sliding down his transparent "throat" and could be seen through his semi-clear skin. It seemed to stop halfway down his body where his "stomach" might have been. After that, it began to bend, wobble and distort itself as it was being "digested" into a thick, pale, milky-white liquid. The rubber goo then wasted no time in spreading out throughout Tails' body through invisible blood vessels. As it branched off more and more, it became thinner and thinner until it finally disappeared altogether and went to who-knows-where.

Tails saw me staring and looked down at his body in action. He seemed to be interested in his body's inner workings and even poked his chest a little with his finger, watching it flex underneath his touch.

"Strange, isn't it? I'm made of rubber, but yet I have to eat rubber to survive. It's kind of a warped form of cannibalism once you think about it."

I simply nodded and looked up. "The workings of balloon-kind have only begun to amaze me," I said almost jokingly.

Once Tails had eaten a few more gloves and digested them, the two of us were now wondering what we should do with the rest of the day.

"How about we go out to the park?" I suggested. "I'm sure you could use the exercise." But then I noticed a hitch in the plan. "But not a lot of people are used to seeing a living, breathing balloon in public. We'd be the center of attention in no time, and that's really not what I need."

"Yeah..." said Tails, noticing the problem. "That could be a problem. Hmm..." After some thought, his face suddenly lit up. "Do you have any kind of hairspray or cooking spray?"

I blinked. "I think so. But what will that do?"

"I think I just thunk."

I blinked again. "Was that English?"

But Tails was already on his way over to my kitchen where I kept my Pam cooking spray. He seemed to know exactly where it was because he climbed up on the counter below the cupboard where it was and had the door open in a flash. I came in to watch him as he took the cooking spray out of the cupboard and climbed back down.

"What are you going to do with that?" I asked him.

"This is a little trick I learned when I was made. Watch and learn."

He shook the spray like a paint can, even though he didn't need to and began to spray the cooking butter all over his rubbery body. At first, I thought he was just making a mess, but soon, I saw a strange occurrence happening. Somehow, the spray butter was crystallizing on his rubbery skin, turning it from semi-transparent to completely opaque. It was like he was turning from a ghost to a real creature. I still did not understand the chemical reaction to it, but within a few minutes, Tails now looked more like his video game counterpart than ever before.

Setting the can on the stove, Tails rubbed the butter into his skin a little more and held out his arms to let it air dry. When it was all done, the only difference between him and the real Tails was that his "fur" wasn't as real or as long as the real deal. But it was convincing enough that it would pass as the real thing.

"I have no idea how you did that," I said, shaking my head. "But it really seemed to work."

Tails smiled and twirled his tails experimentally. "Now the only way anyone can tell I'm a balloon is if a dog smells the butter on my skin and I pop."

I suddenly looked apprehensive. "You can pop?"

Tails nodded. "I can, but it won't kill me. All you have to do is put my pieces back together and I can reinflate myself from there. The only way to kill a Synthetic is to have a Synthetic of higher power than you do the honors. And since I'm the only one here at the moment, I'm perfectly safe."

I couldn't argue with that, so the two of us left the apartment to go for a walk around the park.

Even though Tails had disguised his true self under the cooking spray, we still got our fair share of funny looks from the neighborhood. Apparently, no one had ever seen a four-foot, two-tailed, humanoid fox walking around with someone and speaking perfect English to him before. But since "it" wasn't bothering me, they simply ignored him and let us continue on our way.

Tails seemed less interested in the world around him than he did about me and my interests. He would ask me questions about my personal life, which I was only too glad to answer. It wasn't like he would go blabbing to the world about me. As far as he knew, I was the only person in his life who was worth getting to know.

"You seem to be pretty good at video games," he told me once we rounded a corner near the park. "I could tell that you spend a lot of time perfecting your art from all of the hours you had clocked in on that Sonic game."

I scoffed playfully at his remark. "Yeah, but I've got _nothing_ on you! You made my best efforts look like an amateur in comparison. I can't believe how good you were on that Green Hill Zone. I couldn't even come _close_ to you."

Tails chuckled and continued walking. "Yeah, but remember that I'm _supposed_ to be good at games. It's in my blood to be the best game player in the world."

"What blood?"

The two of us looked at each other seriously for a moment before we both broke out laughing. It was fun to have someone to talk to now, and I hoped that I could continue to live with Tails as long as he wanted to live with me.

While we were walking, a small boy suddenly spotted Tails and came running up to him like an obsessed fan. Tails looked startled when the boy approached him, but he kept his cool.

"You look just like the real Tails from those Sonic games!" he said, almost all of breath. "Are you really him? Are you? Huh?"

Tails looked at me uncertainly and I simply nodded, telling him to go with it. He returned the nod and said, "Yeah, I'm him. It's nice to see that someone else recognizes me."

The boy looked excited as he pulled a notepad and pencil out of his backpack. "You're so cool, Tails! I can't stop playing your games! Can I have your autograph?"

Tails had never been asked this before, whether as a video game character or a balloon. He looked uncertain as he considered the boy's request. He looked even more apprehensive when he saw the sharp pencil he was offering him.

"He'd love to," I told the boy, nudging Tails with my foot. "Right, Tails?"

Tails took the hint and carefully took the pencil and pad from him. "Sure. If you want an autograph, then I guess I can give you one." He used the pencil to scribble a short note on the page that read, "Always fly higher than ever before!" before giving his John Hancock on the paper. He was careful not to touch the paper to heavily with his fingers in case some of the cooking spray rubbed off on it.

Once the little boy was satisfied with Tails' signature, he said, "Thank you, Tails! I won't forget you!" before running off.

"That was very nice of you, Tails," I told the balloon as we continued walking. "I'm sure you really made his day."

Tails simply smirked. "Anything for my fans."

I was glad that he didn't mind branching out to others. After all, I was sure that balloon or not, that boy would have been over the moon to see Tails and get his autograph.

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful. Tails and I talked some more about my life and what we hoped to expect from the next balloon that I would get after tomorrow. We were trying to decide who to get. I was wondering if I should cut straight to the cream of the crop in Shiron, Lugia or Mewtwo or choose a "lesser" one and save the best for last. But we had a couple op days to think about it, so we didn't jump to conclusions just yet.

When we got back, we took turns playing my Gamecube games. It was supposed to rain tomorrow, so we planned to face off against each other in the long hours we were likely to have all day. Tails continued to triumph when he played my Super Smash Bros. Melee game and used the character Mr. Game and Watch to defeat Giga Bowser, Ganondorf and Mewtwo in Event Battle 51. I could barely make a scratch on any of these characters without using Jigglypuff's Rest ability to sent them flying. Not once did Tails lose a life and he had all of the skills of a Level 9 Handicap character. He was certainly the best of the best when he defeated all of them without losing a single life and not going a point over 75 percent. I could not praise him enough for beating that stage without "cheating", which only added to my respect for him.

"I don't know how they made you so good at games," I told him after he defeated Giga Bowser for the third and final time. "But you could play in the G4 Championships if you wanted to."

Tails simply shrugged. "I could, but I don't want to. I'm just doing what comes naturally here. I would want to at least give the others a chance to win."

I sighed as he turned off the game. "Fine, be that way." We both knew that I was playing around and had a small laugh about it.

But I noticed something when Tails started winding up the controller. "I think you should have washed yourself off before you played. You got cooking grease all over my stuff."

Tails looked embarrassed when he saw that my controller was full of grease stains from the cooking spray he had used earlier. He blushed and set the controller down. "I'm sorry. I guess I could use a shower to get all of this butter off of me."

I couldn't agree with him more. So the two of us headed to the bathroom and I got the shower ready for him. I was about to leave when he spoke up.

"You can stay. I don't have anything to be ashamed of. I _am_ a balloon, after all."

He had a point. There were no parts of him that he needed to hide since he was in nothing but his "fur". What's more, he didn't need to use any shampoo because the water would simply run off his skin. So against common judgment, I decided to stay.

When Tails stepped under the running water, you could practically see his skin melting away, turning it transparent once again. The cooking spray literally melted off of his body until he was nice and "squeaky" clean. Speaking of squeaky, wet rubber seems to make a heckuva lot more noise than dry rubber when it rubs together, and his tails and hands were making more than enough of that music by themselves. Normally, Tails' incessant squeaking would have driven a normal person crazy, but for some reason, I liked it. It seemed to signify that I was not dreaming this and that this balloon was in fact a living, breathing example of the real Tails.

While he was rubbing his hands into every nook and cranny of his skin to make sure he got every bit of butter off of him, Tails appeared to be humming a strange yet familiar tune over his body's constant squeaking. It took a few moments for me to remember the tune as the music that played when you faced then Dr. Robotnik in Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. I was sure that Tails had never heard that tune before, but he seemed to know every note in it as he continued to clean himself.

All the while, I sat on the covered toilet, waiting for him to be done. He didn't seem to mind that I was in here despite the fact that he was "naked". But his current state was exactly the same as when I had first gotten him, so there was practically nothing to hide. He was just the first of the many wonderful balloons that I was to receive.

Finally, Tails considered himself clean and used the torque of his rubber hands to turn the faucets off. He then pulled the shower curtain over around him, leaving me wondering what he had planned. I soon found out when the water that was still sticking to his body flew everywhere in the stall as he shook himself dry. When he was completely dry and "squeaky" clean, he opened the shower curtain again and climbed out of the tub.

"Well, that went well," he said happily as I got up. "I feel as fresh as a daisy." I was about to answer when I heard that liquid churning sound of Tails' stomach demanding sustenance. "Say, Alex... You wouldn't mind..."

I read him like a book. "No problem at all. I could use some food, too. Let's go see what we can find."

After a combined meal of rubber gloves for Tails and spaghetti for myself, it was almost time to go to bed. I was looking forward to sleeping next to a living balloon, but I still had one thing left to do.

"Say, Tails... you wouldn't mind if I took a few pictures of you to upload onto the Internet, would you? I've got a few people who would love to see a person like you in different poses."

Tails seemed to notice that I had said "person" and not "creature" or "thing" instead. That only proved that I had accepted that he was alive and a dear friend of mine. He smiled and nodded happily.

"Sure, why not? I could stand a little more popularity."

Feeling a sense of pride, I went to go grab my digital camera to snap a few shots of the bizarre balloon. He and I acted just like a model and photographer taking pictures for a magazine. I took different angles and Tails posed with different objects such as a magazine that I had lying around and sitting in front of my Gamecube with the controller, playing and looking determined. When I was done, I saved the pictures on my digital camera and set it in my computer room to upload in the morning.

Finally, we were ready to turn in. I stripped down to just a shirt and boxers like I always did while Tails slept in the "nude" (smirk). I climbed under the covers on one side while he did so on the other and I turned on my TV to watch for a few minutes before going to sleep.

Tails seemed to enjoy the feeling of blankets on his Balloonie skin. He curled up under them and rolled around in place a few times, feeling the soft quilts massaging his rubbery body. As I lied next to him, I wondered just how comfortable he really was. For a fleeting moment, I would have given anything to get under his skin and feel what he was feeling.

But when we finally turned in, Tails rolled over on his front and wrapped an arm around my front. His body was so comfortable and soothing that I felt that I was lying under a soft airbag. I could feel his unusual warmth massaging my tired nerves as the two of us drifted off into the Dream World.

**Chapter 2: Life with Lugia**

I could not remember when I had slept so well in my entire life. I slept so soundly that I couldn't even remember what I was dreaming and went through the entire night without waking up once. By the time I had woken up, it was already 8:00 and Tails was already out of bed. Wondering if yesterday had been a dream after all, I climbed out of bed, grabbed a pair of shorts and left the bedroom to start my day.

Sure enough, Tails was still there in the living room, playing my Pokémon XD game. He was playing my saved game at Mount Battle. I had started out at the 23rd zone, but by the time I got up, he was already at the start of the fourth area.

I chuckled as I sat down on the couch next to him. "You just couldn't stay away, could you?"

Tails simply smiled. "I guess not. I just love video games and I'm always willing to play the next one that I can."

As Tails entered the 31st zone, he chose the two lead Pokémon that I normally went into battle with – Lugia and Latios. I had brought Latios into the game after clearing both XD and Emerald. I used both of them because Latios contained a powerful move called Earthquake that did mondo Ground damage but affected both the enemy and my partner. But since Lugia was a Flying-Type and Latios and Latias (who was also in the game) had the Levitate ability, they were completely unaffected by the move and I could use it nearly non-stop throughout Mt. Battle. Personally, I had never made it past the 75th zone because of a disaster with Ice Beam, but I was curious to see how Tails would fare.

Sure enough, it was raining cats and dogs outside just like it was supposed to. We really needed this rain since we had gone too long without it. As I looked out of the window, I couldn't help thinking that this was Lugia's kind of weather. He had spent most of his life in and around water and when it rained like this, Lugia was usually not far behind. All the while, I wondered if Lugia would be my second choice out of all of the balloons that were still there.

As I was thinking this, I heard the doorbell ring, which was something to be concerned about since none of the apartments in this building _had_ doorbells. Wondering if it was for me, I got up and went to go answer the door, leaving Tails to do his thing in the game.

But when I opened the door, I noticed that no one was there. The hallways were completely deserted, so I couldn't help wondering if it had all been in my head. I was about to go back inside when I spotted something on the floor. It was another package similar to the one that Tails had come in. But this time, a distinct picture of Lugia with his wings spread wide was on the sticker label. It also had the same logo that told me that this was one of Plushtopia's products.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going on. I wasn't supposed to get my next balloon until tomorrow. Why was the next one at my front step? And more importantly, who had delivered it and then vanished immediately afterwards? It didn't make any sense, but I figured that this was my next choice in the series, so I took the package into the apartment and closed the door.

"Who was it?" called Tails from the living room.

"I don't know," I said, looking over the package for a moment before heading back into the room. "But we just got our newest friend."

I heard the controller drop and the Gamecube and TV shut off shortly after I had said this, telling me that Tails was as excited as I was to get another balloon character.

"Who is it?" he repeated excitedly. "Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?!"

"Slow down there, Jethro," I said, holding both Tails at bay with one hand and the package over my head with the other. "We don't want to rush this, do we? I'm sure Lugia isn't going anywhere fast this way, so we have all the time in the world."

Tails' blue eyes lit up when he found out that it was Lugia. He tried to bounce up and get the package out of my hands. Granted, he could jump higher than a normal person could because of his composition, but he was still too short to get to it.

"Lemme see! I wanna see!"

"Tails..." I said, grabbing him in mid-air by the arm and bringing him over to the couch. "Sit!"

This would have hurt a normal person, but Tails weighed almost nothing, so being carried by the arm for a few feet made almost no impression on him. He finally obeyed and sat on the couch, his hands folded and leaning closely and curiously. His tails were tying and untying themselves into knots as he barely contained his excitement. Now that he wasn't going anywhere fast, I lowered the package and carefully ripped the plastic off of the top. I then pulled open the zipper and tipped the contents out into my hand.

There were two items in the bag. The mass of deflated silver-white and blue that was the Lugia balloon and a note on thick, yellow parchment. I had never seen this kind of paper used before, which led me to believe that it had been written by that old man back at the shop.

"What's it say?" said Tails as I unfolded it.

"Let's see..." I opened the letter and read the contents that had been addressed to me.

"Dear Mr. Schaefer,

I hear that Tails is very satisfied with you and is only too happy to remain living with you. Congratulations on your efforts! Because Tails was so happy with how you have been treating him, I have decided to go ahead and send you the next of the eight balloons that you have chosen.

Actually, I didn't have a choice this time. Because of this weather, one of the balloons, Lugia, has grown restless and has wanted to join you as soon as possible. This is one of the most intelligent and powerful balloons that I have ever produced, so you might be a little overwhelmed by its presence at first. You do not need to worry. Lugia is very understanding of your situation and has agreed to aid you in raising the rest of the balloons that I hope to send you.

As a precaution, I know that a full-sized Lugia would be far too large to house in your apartment, so this version was modified to be house-friendly at only seven feet tall at maximum. But once fully inflated, Lugia will be capable of some things that Tails is not. Do not be alarmed with anything that happens unexpectedly; just go with it and it will be much more enjoyable. If anything happens that you find too much to bear, just inform Lugia of it and he will do his best to fix the situation.

None of these balloons will try to harm you, Alex. I have made absolutely sure that they abide by the rule to never harm their owner, so you are in no danger at any time. If anything happens that you find life-threatening, come and see me and I will deal with the guilty party.

Until next time,

Karmen Aridos"

"Well, that was informative," I said, folding up the letter. "At least the guy knows what he's doing when he sends me you guys."

Tails nodded and leaned back on the sofa and placed both of his arms on the cushions behind him. "That's Aridos for you – always thinking of the lesser man."

"Amen, brother," I said, trying to talk street. "Now let's give our newest member some life."

Tails watched in interest as I located Lugia's beak and began to blow into his body. Just like him, Lugia began to inflate at an alarming rate despite the amount of air that I was blowing into him. Within a dozen deep breaths, he was at full size at about seven feet from head to toe and about ten feet from head to tail. I was surprised at how fast the balloon had grown despite its size. And just like Tails, there was not a single detail that was blown out of proportions. It was an exact-scale replica of the real Lugia.

Just like the real Lugia, the balloon version took the form of a great bird of destiny. He had no actual feathers, even as the real deal; instead, his body was covered in a thick, flexible, silver-white skin (emphasis on "thick"). The only parts of him that weren't silver-white were his round, V-shaped belly mark, his ten rectangular back plates, his two tail spikes and his two pointed eye masks. Everything except his belly were colored a deep navy-blue color, with that part being a kind of sky-blue shade.

Lugia's wings looked more like large, broad, flat, flipper-like arms. The ends of them had four flat "fingers" that kind of reminded me of feathers with a fifth "thumb" under his "palm" almost like a human's. And on the end of his short digitigrade feet were three round, nubby toes on the bottom of which he balanced himself expertly.

Lugia's head looked bird-like in comparison, but there was something about it that wasn't quite the same. His beak was short, curved and pretty much indistinguishable from the rest of his face. While most birds had a kind of beak that you could tell from the rest of its head, Lugia's was impossible to tell from his face. Even though He only had two sharp, pointed fangs on both his upper and lower jaws, I knew all too well the strength that the real deal could dish out. He could crush a coconut in one snap without even trying if he wanted to! And below the point on the top of his skull were two pointed navy-blue masks over his narrow, navy-blue eyes. Those eyes radiated all of Lugia's power, strength and kindness all at once, giving him an intimidating look to those who might fear him. But Lugia is actually a gentle giant and would never hurt a living thing without an undisputable reason to. That's what I liked about him. He was the very essence of a god, but under that intimidating frame, the soul of a gentle giant dwelled within him.

Now that Lugia was fully inflated, I was wondering just how to bring him to life. I had done something to do it to Tails, but I couldn't remember what. It had had something to do with a spell, but the words escaped my memory.

Tails knew exactly what I was thinking because he went to where the bag that _he_ had come in was still on the floor and rooted around inside of it for a moment. He finally came up with a scrap of thin paper with the three magic words written on it.

"This might be a little helpful," he said, handing it to me.

"Thanks," I said, taking it and reading over the three words on it. "Let's see... Unubo! Calo! Rhouxo!"

Unlike Tails, the words took immediate effect on Lugia. He blinked for a moment before shaking his head and spreading his wings to stretch his unseen muscles.

_Haaa... _he yawned widely, jerking his neck to the each side to "crack" it rather squeakily. _I was having such a nice dream. It's been a while since I have slept so well, but I guess all things must come to an end sooner or later._

I noticed that Lugia was speaking mentally just like he had in the second Pokémon movie, but I wasn't the only one that could hear him. Tails' expression told me that he had heard him loud and clear as well.

I wasn't sure what to say to one of my most favorite of all Pokémon, balloon or otherwise. It was like I had been given an honor that I was not worthy to own. I knew that Lugia belonged to me, but did he really? Usually, he answered to no one, but would he consider me his friend or his foe?

Lugia seemed to hear my thoughts loud and clear because he suddenly turned to look straight at me. I flinched under his gaze, but he didn't seem to see me as a threat. _I thank you for awakening me, Alex. I've been asleep for quite a while and it feels good to be in the Real World again. You are in my debt._

Then against all odds, Lugia spread his wings wide, careful as to not knock anything over and bowed low, his head and wings nearly touching down on the floor. I was speechless by this gesture. Lugia – one of the most powerful creatures in existence – was bowing in front of me. Was this really all a dream? I was pretty sure that I was wide awake this time.

Lugia lifted his head up and folded his wings at his sides. _You need not feel so troubled. I was created to be your friend and I do not intend to go back on my purpose. Although..._ He looked around the small room nervously. _I wish I could have a little more room to move in._

All of a sudden, I came up with a strange idea. "Wait here. I think I have something that would work for you."

Lugia looked at Tails for the first time, who shrugged as I went back to my room to grab something. I sorted through my things in my cramped bedroom, looking for something that I had printed off the Internet some time earlier. Where was it? I had been so impressed by it that I had once hung it in front of my bed so that I could look at it every night before I went to bed. I had taken in down when I had moved, but I was sure that it was still here somewhere.

Finally, I found it. It was wedged in a photo album that I had not yet unpacked. It was a picture that I had downloaded from Fur Affinity some time ago and had had laminated because it had been so spectacular. I figured that if Lugia liked it that he would mimic this picture to compensate for his size disadvantage.

"Hey, Lugia!" I called as I returned to the living room.

_Yes?_ he said, breaking off of his conversation with Tails.

"I think I have something that you can use while you're indoors." I showed him the picture. "What do you think?"

The border of the picture was frayed from me cutting it inexpertly, so Lugia did not take it in case he slit his skin and let the air out of his body unexpectedly. But the picture was as detailed as ever, and Lugia seemed to take particular interest in it.

_This is me..._ he said curiously. _But... I'm human... somehow._

"Of course. This is a picture of an Anthro Lugia that I got off the Internet before I moved. Do you think you can turn into this?"

Tails was confused. "How could he do that?"

"You two are balloons, right? So why don't you simply shift your bodies to take other forms like this?"

Lugia examined the picture of his anthro self for a while before he nodded. "I think this would work. I can mold myself into this, but please give me some room. I don't know how this is going to turn out."

I did so and Tails and I retreated to the dining room. I had left the picture at Lugia's feet so he could have something to visualize. While we watched, Lugia was giving the picture one final study before he began.

Once he had the picture in his mind, Lugia opened his mouth and began to draw more air into his body. But instead of increasing in scale, he started to resemble what a balloon _should_ look like with that much air in it. His features began to grow fat and short in size. He was becoming rounder and fatter until he was all one big, round bubble of smeared blue and silver. In my opinion, he looked just like... a balloon (pardon the comparison).

Lugia remained in this state for a moment, bobbing off the floor for a moment as the air conditioning pushed him around a little. He was as round as a bubble and looked just like one. I then started hearing the sound of air being let out of a tire in the room. Lugia was letting the excess air out of his body, but this time, he was taking a new form that I immediately recognized. It was like one of those toys inside of a capsule that you dissolved in water to reveal. As the air was let out of his body, Lugia's new form took shape. Pretty soon, he had let almost all of the new air out of his body, allowing the old air to shape his body to something completely unexpected.

Once he had closed the flap in the back of his throat, Lugia looked over himself with interest before addressing Tails and me. _How do I look? Yes? No? Maybe?_

Tails was amazed that balloons could manipulate themselves into almost any shape like that, but I wasn't surprised. I just knew that Lugia could do it if he really wanted to and he certainly did.

Balloon Lugia was now _Anthro_ Balloon Lugia. He stood at about six-foot-six, but his form was somehow _much_ more impressive than his previous one. He still stood on the same three-toed digitigrade feet, but his heels were much higher up and his legs were now humanoid in shape and size. They were long and trim, despite the fact that they were still see-through. His V-shaped belly mark was still there, but instead of a round belly, he had a straight, chiseled bod complete with a faint set of six-pack abs. His back plates were still there and his tail was roughly the same scale and size as before with the same two spikes on the end.

Lugia's wings had shifted position from his "arms" to his shoulders just like a dragon's wings. They were roughly the same shape and size, but this time, his "thumb" formed a kind of joint where the other four fingers met. In place of his wings, though, was a pair of brand new humanoid arms. They were long, lean and strong and at the ends were a pair of human-like hands with five slim, slender, nail-less fingers.

The only part of Lugia that was pretty much unchanged was his head. It still had the same proportions, shape and features as before. Besides, if it didn't it just wouldn't be Lugia. His face, beak and eyes are what give him his powerful and intimidating form.

I was amazed that Lugia had managed to mimic the picture as accurately as he did. If anything, he looked even more majestic and graceful than before.

"You look even more god-like that I had ever expected," I said with complete honesty.

Lugia blinked and spread one of his wings (Wing. Not arm.) out to look at the detail he had put into it. _Do I really look that good, Tails?_

The vulpine nodded. "Yes, sir. You make me look like a party balloon."

If Lugia could blush, he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. He spread his wings wide and held his arms up, stopping just short of the ceiling. _I feel even better than before. _He turned to me._ Thank you for your help, Alex. I appreciate it._

I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. "You're welcome." But I had just one more question. "Can you still change back?"

Lugia furled his wings again and lowered his arms. _I can, but I think I'll use... this..._ He broke off. I was unsure what he was thinking as he looked off in no particular direction.

"Lugia?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

Lugia snapped out of his trance and looked at me. _Would you like to experience something special, Alex?_

I was unsure as talking about, but I shrugged and said, "Sure, I'm game."

Lugia nodded and motioned with his hand. _Come over here, then. I want to show you something._

I did so and he looked me up and down for a moment. Finally he twirled one finger and said, _Turn around, please._

I had no idea what he was planning, but I turned around just like he had said. I then felt Lugia step directly behind me and place his hands on my shoulders.

_I'm going to pull you inside of me for a moment, Alex. I promise that I will not hurt you. Just relax and allow me to do this. When it is over, I will let you out._

This was a strange request, but I did my best to loosen up my nerves and go along with it. I sighed and told Lugia that I was ready. Once he was, too, he gently wrapped his arms around my waist and began to pull me gently but irresistibly towards him. I could feel his warm, cushiony body as he gently applied pressure to my body.

"Have you ever done this before, Lugia?" I had to ask.

_No. But I promise you that I know what I am doing. Just relax and allow me to do this._

Feeling slightly on edge, I did my best to calm down as Lugia continued to press me against his body. I couldn't feel anything happening right away, but soon, I could feel his warm, air-filled body starting to envelop me. It was like he was pulling me inside of him and his rubbery skin was starting to crawl over my skin. I could feel the warm rubber become hot rubber as Lugia's body seemed to liquefy around me. Hot, liquid-like tendrils began to wrap around my arms, head, torso and legs as Lugia continued to pull me inside of him. I could feel his face wrapping around my cheeks and the world was starting to become a little distorted. I closed my eyes as his gooey body completely enveloped me and I was pulled all the way inside with a liquid-like _shlurp._

The next thing I knew, I was looking out through Lugia's distorted silver-white body. But when I looked out through where his eyes were, it seemed that the world was just as, if not better-looking than before. It looked like Lugia's eyes were the only part of him that didn't make the world around him appear distorted.

My first concern was for my oxygen supply. I was fully encased inside Lugia's latex body with absolutely no ways for fresh air to get inside. But Lugia seemed to feel my concern because he smiled and said, _It's okay, Alex. I would never let you suffocate. Breathe all you want._

Now that he said that, I guess it made sense. He seemed to be generating air from all around me that seemed to fill my lungs with fresh oxygen without me needing to breathe at all. But I was a little startled when Lugia used his arm _and_ mine at the same time to pat his... _our_ belly.

_It's okay, Alex. We are moving as one being now. I will not force you to do anything you don't want to, but we must learn to move together or this will not work._

"I know... but this is still a little awkward. I'm not used to anyone moving my body _for_ me."

Lugia paused at this statement and then came up with an idea. _How about I fuse us together so that we can move as one always? It's nothing special and I can separate us when we are done._

I figured I had nothing to lose. "Sure. Go ahead."

For some reason, Lugia and I looked at Tails, who had remained silent this whole time before he closed his eyes and began to focus his power. I suddenly felt lightheaded as Lugia's magic began to affect me. I felt like I was floating inside of him as a wonderful, light feeling filled my body. It was like I was soaring through a never-ending skydive and the feeling of pure bliss was all over me. I was so calm that I closed my eyes to feel the sensation of just falling away from the world all over me.

Lugia's essence began to overtake me and I started to disappear inside of him. My body was turning transparent while my mind seemed to be melting into Lugia's being. I was disappearing from this world, but I wasn't going anywhere. I was simply going to merge myself with Lugia where we would be able to work together as one for a while.

Before our minds finally merged with each other, Lugia's voice echoed deep inside my mind. _What once was two... is now one... We were separate... but now together... Sleep, Alex... Sleep and become one with me... When you awaken... we will be one... sleep... and know no fear..._

The next thing I knew was that I was lying on my back on the floor of my apartment. Tails was sitting on the couch above me, looking over me to make sure that I was alright. I had been having the most amazing feeling washing over me that I had nearly let my mind go into the next world. The pure joy and ecstasy of what I had felt made me feel like my spirit had all but passed on to the next life. But now, I was awake and I could get back to my life.

"Lugia!" said Tails as I opened my eyes to look at him. "You're awake! You've been out since yesterday afternoon. But..." He hesitated. "Are you Lugia or are you Alex?"

I blinked and used my wings to help me sit up, holding my head with my hand. _You know..._ I said uncertainly. _I'm not really sure. I feel like Lugia... but I have Alex's personality. _I turned to look at him._ I think I'm both right now._

"Huh?"

_When Lugia merged with Alex, I think he created a being that contained traits of both of them. That's me, but I don't think they're gone. I think that they'll separate again when I'm ready to go back._

"Neat." Tails hopped down off the couch and helped me get to my feet. "So... do you want to be called "Lugia" or "Alex" or should I call you something else?"

I staggered a little before I used my tail to correct myself and regain my balance. _I don't think any of those names would work. I'm a being that cannot be named right now, so just call me whatever you want._

"Oh... kay..." Tails wasn't quite sure what to do. "Anyway... What do you want to do?"

I thought about this for a moment. _Have I really been out since yesterday?_

Tails nodded. "Yep. When Lugia and Alex merged, the two of them blacked out until just this morning. I'm just glad that both of you are okay."

_Hmm... You know... there's something I've always wanted to try._

"What's that?"

I looked at Tails and smiled. _I've always wondered what it would be like to fly as a balloon in the sky._

Tails looked apprehensive. "Are you sure that's safe? We don't really weigh much, so we're probably going to get blown away."

I shook my head. _We're special. We're magical balloons, so the wind will only affect us if we let it. Besides, your game counterpart always gets to fly; why shouldn't you get the same privilege?_

"I think I get it now." He paused before his expression lit up and he nodded. "Okay. Let's go flying!"

I smiled and headed to the door. I didn't even bother to use my hand to open the door. Instead, I instinctively used my psychic powers to cause the doorknob to glow with a thin blue aura before it rolled on its own and pulled the door open. Tails was looking at me in disbelief as I turned to look at him with a grin across my beak.

_After you._

The weather couldn't have been any better for going on a little flight. The sun was shining, the winds were calm and the temperature was just perfect to walk around in. Unlike yesterday when it had been storming like crazy, this was the exact opposite of that gloomy day.

Tails had never flow as a balloon before, even though his video game counterpart had done it plenty of times in his life. The first problem he faced was getting his rubber tails to spin fast enough without them rubbing up against each other and wearing out or popping. But I knew just what to do about that.

The two of us walked around the complex until we reached a faucet where the landlord watered the lawn occasionally. The faucet handle was missing and appeared to be accessible only by using a pipe wrench, but it would be no match for my psychic abilities. Concentrating mildly, I managed to turn the faucet enough for enough water to start pouring out of it.

But since wet rubber still dried too quickly and only added to the friction between two parts, I had to improvise. I kneeled down and placed my beak over the faucet like a person getting a drink, which is basically what I did. I swallowed a few mouthfuls of water before getting back up and turning the faucet off.

"What are you up to?" said Tails suspiciously.

Even with only a glass's worth of water inside of me, it still felt good to have the water sloshing around inside of my belly. I made a note that when Lugia and Alex separated that sometime in the future when they had all of their balloon friends, they would all have to come out here to get filled up to the brims to have a water balloon party. It sounded fun and I knew that they couldn't wait to try it out.

But right now, I was putting the water inside of me to other use. Using my body's unique abilities, I mixed some of the latex inside of me with the water to make a kind of clear, latex goo. Turning to Tails, I could tell that he knew what I was planning. He nodded and closed his eyes against the inevitable.

With one good push, I threw up the thick, rubbery soup through my beak and all over Tails. He was completely drenched by the time I was empty and he looked a little "wet" while I was wiping my beak.

_There you go,_ I told him. _Now just rub that into your skin and you'll be lubricated enough to use your tails._

Tails smiled blankly and began to massage his rubbery skin at every point, working my latex "vomit" into his skin. Normally, humans wouldn't even consider this approach, but with Synthetics, we could do things with our body fluids that would have made the most unlikely believer believe the impossible.

Once he was fully lubed up, Tails tried spinning his tails to test them out. Sure enough, the squeaking that they produced when they rubbed together was so minimal that you could hardly hear it at all. This would also make his body more squeak-resistant for a while after our flight, so it could only ever be good for him.

"Thanks! _Now_ can we go flying?"

I nodded and the two of us walked out into the middle of the parking lot. There was more than enough room here and we took advantage of every square-inch of it.

Our methods of getting airborne differed, but the result was the same. Tails simply leaned over and began to spin his two tails rapidly in a circle just like his counterpart did. He was airborne in no time at all and was flying off into the skies to wait for me. I, on the other hand, simply had to spread my wings just like a bird or a dragon and start pumping them. Since my wings caught much more air than a "fleshie" did, I was up in the air in nothing flat and within a couple of pumps, I was at Tails' level and still climbing. It took a few moments for the two of us to get at a decent altitude, but once we were, we could finally bask in the wonders that flying did for us.

Words could barely describe my first flight without anything holding me up there. I felt the wind flowing over my skin like a blanket of pure warmth. It was soothing and at the same time enjoyable and relaxing. Being able to fly through the air without really trying was something that I would never forget as either Lugia or Alex. I now knew why the birds sang on such a constant basis; they were happy to fly free in the skies without anything holding them back. Even better, since we were not affected by the thermals or the winds, we could fly even faster and longer than the birds could and enjoy it much more than they ever could. For birds, flying was a duty. But for us, flying was a privilege and a pleasure. There was certainly nothing like it in the world today.

And since Tails did not tire as easily as his counterpart did, he could fly longer and faster than ever before. But he would never be able to get up to my speed, so I had to slow down for him to keep up with me.

All the while, we did not say a word. Words were nothing in comparison to the joy we were both experiencing. Flying was certainly one of life's great honors and pleasures; we did not need to waste words describing it to each other. The only things that spoke anything at all were our faces as we played a modified version of tag in the air.

We flew for a majority of the day. During that time, we had left the state and had gone on a cross-country flight. We were able to see things in this country that would take normal humans days or even weeks to reach by traditional means. Our flight path went to one ocean before we decided to turn around and head the other way. And by the time we had gotten to another ocean, we decided to call it a day and head back home. By now, it was getting on in the day back home and we decided to call it a day.

By the time we had gotten back home, night had fallen and the stars were struggling to get through the glare of the city. Tails and I touched down in the parking lot we had left earlier in the day and decided to head inside.

Now that we were on the ground, we could finally express ourselves about what we had encountered. Tails couldn't keep quiet.

"Did you see how close we got to that airplane?" he said, practically bouncing all the way up the stairs. "I could have sworn that that businessman was going to have a heart attack!"

I chuckled at the memory. Tails had flown insanely close to one of the windows on an airplane bound for Chicago and had actually _waved_ to a guy who had been working on a laptop. The look on his face when he had seen him was beyond priceless.

_You certainly are a little troublemaker, aren't you?_

Tails scoffed playfully and brought up another encounter. "Remember that fighter jet? They couldn't even get a lock on us to blow us out of the sky!"

True enough, we had flown by a couple of MIGs in training. They had originally thought that we were enemies and had tried to shoot us down. But we hadn't stayed still long enough and our bodies hadn't given off enough heat for them to get a lock on us. We had playfully antagonized them by literally flying circles around them before leaving them in confusion.

_I think we gave those men a run for their money while we were "playing" with them. We're lucky they didn't have any machine guns on board or they would be picking our pieces up all over the Southwest._

Once we were back in the apartment, the two of us crashed in the living room from both happiness and exhaustion. We had had fun and we were only two happy to do it again. But over the next few days, that would be a little difficult since the next balloon to arrive _couldn't_ fly.

After sitting next to each other on the couch for a while, I turned to Tails and said, _I guess I should give Lugia and Alex their lives back, huh?_

Tails looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. It was fun with you, but I'm kind of missing them right now. Maybe Alex can merge with another one of us sometime later?"

I shrugged and stood up. _I guess. But the experience might not be the same._

Tails simply waved a hand. "I don't mind."

Glad that he felt that way, I lied down on the floor and closed my eyes, taking slow and steady breaths in preparation to separate Lugia and Alex from me. This would not take as long as before, but they would be out for a while after the separation.

But before I started, I had one more thing to say to Tails: _See you on the other side._

**Chapter 3: A Blaziken of Glory**

If my first night with Tails was enjoyable, that was _nothing_ compared to how I had slept over the past night. Never before had I enjoyed my rest so much that I was disappointed that it hadn't lasted longer. I had been enjoying myself so much that I would have rather stayed in the Dream World than come back and face reality again. But what are you going to do? So I got up and got ready for my day.

The first thing I noticed when I reached the bathroom was that I smelled strongly of latex. Not only that, but I was covered with a thin, clear film of liquid latex. I must have been closer to Lugia that I had thought because the film was still slightly damp. I must have gotten covered in his body's natural fluids when he had "thrown me up" when we had separated. I don't know how I knew this; I just did.

So to get rid of the smell and the "skin", I went straight into the shower and gave myself a good scrubbing. The film covering me easily peeled off, but some of it had gotten stuck in my hair, so I had had to shampoo myself _three_ times to get it back to normal. Other than that, there really wasn't that much of a problem.

When I finally got out of the shower, I found Lugia watching Tails playing my Nintendo DS on the couch. For some reason, Lugia had changed back into his "true" form and was watching him from the middle of the living room. I had barely entered the living room when Lugia looked in my direction with a satisfied expression on his face.

_Good morning, Alex, _he said, walking over to me. _You smell nice._

"Uh... Thanks?" I wasn't sure how to interpret this.

Nevertheless, Lugia came up to me with a dreamy expression on his face that kind of startled me. But what happened next nearly scared me out of my wits. Lugia leaned forward and trailed his thick, rubbery tongue across my cheek. It was kind of an affectionate lick, but there was something else about it. I couldn't help but think that he was actually _tasting_ me.

He continued to caress my face with his tongue, cooing, purring and squeaking intently. He seemed to be showing his affection for me while Tails continued playing my DS. I was actually enjoying the tongue treatment almost as much as Lugia was and I soon let my guard down for a moment to enjoy it.

But that was all he needed. Before I could react, Lugia stopped licking and opened his mouth wide before wrapping it around my skull! It seemed that he _was_ tasting me and was now going for the main course.

"Lugia! What are you doing?! Stop it! Stop it right now!" But Lugia was oblivious to my pleas because my head was completely "swallowed" by now. I was screaming and yelling for him to stop, but I was fighting a one-sided battle. Lugia was starting to pull me into his throat and was apparently going to _eat_ me! I kicked and screamed, but nothing would get through to him.

I was just about to give up hope when my entire world went out with an ear-splitting BOOOOM!!! and I dropped to the floor in a heap. I was startled and my eardrums were a little raw, but I was pretty much unhurt.

When I finally recovered, I was able to roll over and see Tails standing over me with a pair of scissors in his hand. Lugia was nowhere to be found, but I had a feeling that I knew what had happened. Tails must have seen or heard Lugia eating me and had grabbed the scissors to destroy him before he could completely swallow me.

"Tails... thank you," I said, gasping for breath. "What happened?"

Tails set the scissors down and sat on the floor next to me. "I'm sorry, but Lugia has been acting a little strange since the two of you separated. I think he's really hungry."

"I could tell. He nearly _ate _me if you didn't notice."

"I _did_ notice, but that's not why I saved you."

"Huh?" I didn't understand.

Tails folded his hands and sighed. "It's like this. When a Synthetic is hungry, they need to get food somehow. Whether it's rubber or human flesh, they'll get what they want sooner or later. It's just better to give them what they want before you end up on the wrong end of the plate."

"You mean... you guys are man-eaters?!"

Tails sighed and shook his head. "Yes and no. The main reason we eat humans is to convert their bodies into latex that we later regurgitate and rebirth them as Balloonies..." He took a moment to watch my shocked expression. "But we don't intend to hurt you. We're actually turning human skin into rubber and living flesh into gas to make you like us.

"But when a Synthetic is desperately hungry and their skin is rather thin, they will ignore that rule and consume humans strictly to make a meal out of. And when that happens, you are pretty much in trouble. They throw away your mind and soul strictly so that they may live. There is no rebirth or return from that fate, so it is a good idea to keep us fed regularly."

I could barely imagine what might have happened if Lugia had completely swallowed me before Tails had come to the rescue. I would have been done for just to make a balloon's next meal.

"You know... I don't think Lugia has eaten since I inflated him. With everything that happened these past two days, I guess we both forgot. Is it too late to change that?"

Tails answered this by picking up one of Lugia's pieces and pressing his ear against the thin rubber. I wondered what he was listening to when he smiled and gave his analysis.

"It's still safe. If Lugia had been _that_ hungry, I might not have made it in time. And I think he smelled the rubber that was still in your skin from last night."

"I still smell?" I gave my arm a sniff, but I couldn't detect any latex in there.

"One you've been covered in a Balloon's juices, they will always be able to smell you. To them, the smell never goes away."

I sighed and got up. "I suppose I'd better feed Lugia before I get eaten again."

While Tails gathered all of Lugia's pieces, I went to go grab the box of rubber gloves that Tails had been eating for the past few days. But when I found them, I found that there were only about fifteen of them left. Wondering how much a balloon like Lugia would eat, I sighed and collected what little I had and deal with it. I didn't get paid for another three weeks, so once it was all gone, I was done for if either of them decided to go on a feeding frenzy.

By now, Lugia was already starting to reinflate himself. I could see him restoring his old shape and size as he somehow managed to fill his limp form with "fresh" air. When he was at full size once again, he staggered a little and held a wing to his head.

_Ohh... what happened to me? I don't feel well._

Tails explained to him what he had tried to do to me earlier because he had been hungry for latex. When he was done, Lugia blushed and hung his head in shame.

_I'm sorry, Alex. I couldn't stop myself. I was hungry and you smelled so good. I didn't know where any latex was, so I grabbed the first thing that smelled like it._

I sighed and pulled the remainder of the gloves out of the box. "It's okay, Lugia. I should have seen that coming. Here. You can finish these gloves for now. But once these are gone, I can't buy anymore for another three weeks when I get paid. I hope we can survive that long."

Lugia sighed and slurped the balled-up gloves out of my hand with his rubbery tongue. After giving them a good chewing and pulverizing with his rubber fangs, he swallowed the liquid-like mass and began to "digest" it. Just like what had happened with Tails, it turned into a kind of milky-white liquid where his stomach was and spread out throughout his body, satisfying his hunger and causing his skin to thicken slightly.

_Thank you, Alex,_ said Lugia in an honest apologetic tone. _I owe you my life._

I sighed and sat down on the couch where Tails was resuming his game. "It's nothing, really. We'll just deal with it as it comes."

Tails' stomach was growling as well, but he wasn't going on a feeding frenzy like Lugia had. Because he had already eaten once, I guess he could last longer than Lugia had without eating. I felt disappointed that I could not supply them enough food to satisfy their hunger for latex. It just showed how financially strapped I was. Tails didn't seem to mind, though. He continued playing what I could now see was Pokémon Emerald and tried to ignore the sounds of his hunger pangs. Lugia, meanwhile, had had his energy drained when he had been popped and was curled up on the floor, fast asleep and lost in the wonders of the Dream World.

Just then, I heard the doorbell ring again. This time, I knew that I was not hearing things. Even though my apartment did not _have_ a doorbell, I got up to go answer it anyway. It might have been that old man, Aridos, with my next balloon again. Wondering how I would feed it, I sighed and answered the door while thinking on my feet.

This time, there was a medium-sized brown box sitting on my doorstep. It stood up to my ankles and was about as long as my foot. Since I wasn't expecting any other packages, I figured that it was from Aridos and carried it inside anyway.

"What'd you get this time?" said Tails as I returned to the living room.

"I guess it's my next balloon, but it's a little big for just the package. There must be something else in it as well."

"Open it. I wanna see!"

I knew Tails wasn't going to stop bothering me until I did, so I sat down on the couch with a pair of scissors (Tails scooted away uncomfortably) and went to work trying to cut open the tape. It parted easily and I could finally see what was inside.

There were four items inside the package. One of them was the package of the next balloon in the series. But the other three were what appeared to be small water bottles with a strange clear liquid that I assumed was water inside. Each of them had a sticker on the front of them with a different mug shot on them. From what I could see, one of them had Tails' face on it, another had Lugia's side mug on it while the last one had what appeared to be a Blaziken's facial features.

This answered one question but raised so many others. I guess balloon number three was a Blaziken, but what _was_ this stuff? Why was it all individually bottled and why was it so specific for each one?

After some more rummaging, I found a note on parchment sent to me from Aridos under the plastic package. It was written in the same loose, spidery handwriting as the other one, which only confirmed that it was from Aridos. I unfolded it and read it to Tails.

Dear Mr. Schaefer,

So far, so good, eh? Other than a slight misunderstanding this morning, Lugia has had nothing but good things to say about you over these past two days. He has informed me that the two of you merged temporarily to become one for about a day. I hope you can get used to this soon because the later models will only want to have you inside of them even more. As a kind of congratulations, I have sent you the third of your eight Synthetic friends.

But be careful once you bring this one to life. Blaziken might be a little hot-tempered after he realizes that he is now made of rubber. I must have borrowed his spirit from a Blaziken that had just recently passed away, so there might be a little confusion with him. His speech is in basic Pokémon, but I'm sure that Lugia will be able to help you understand him soon enough. Just be careful. Blaziken is always in the mood for a fight, so try not to antagonize him too much. But like Lugia, there were a few... leftovers from his past life, so be careful where you let him practice.

By the way, you're probably out of food for your friends by now. I anticipated this and went right to work on a special formula for feeding balloons. Inside each of these three bottles are special nutrients and supplements unique to each one. All you have to do is mix in a few squirts of this special liquid into everyday food and it will become rubberized and be ready to eat by the Synthetics. I wouldn't eat anything that you put it in, though, unless you like the taste of "fake" food. Don't worry about mixing them, either. Even if you put everyone's mix into the same dish, they will be able to tell their part apart from the others.

Finally, each bottle that I have sent you and every bottle I will send you from now on is bewitched with a special Refilling Spell. When any of them run dry, they will automatically refill with the same amount of liquid and be as good as new.

I hope you are enjoying your balloon friends and I can only expect their satisfaction to remain high as long as they are living with you.

Keep up the good work!

Karmen Aridos

"Well, that was nice of him," said Tails as he took his bottle and examined it. "Now I'll be able to eat "real" food with this stuff in it. That Aridos certainly knows how to make us all happy."

"That _was_ nice of him," I added. "Now I can go without you guys trying to eat me for a meal from now on. Now..." I set the letter aside and grabbed the package with the Blaziken balloon inside it. "Let's meet our new friend."

After carefully ripping open the package, I tipped the shriveled balloon into my open hand. I then cast aside the package and got up to inflate it. But Lugia was taking up a good portion of the living room floor, and I didn't want to wake the sleeping dragon if I didn't have to, so I went to the space between the living room and the dining room and sat down on the floor to inflate it.

Like his predecessors, Blaziken was inflated in just under a dozen deep breaths. At his full size, he stood at six-foot-three – three inches higher than me. His body was covered by a mixed selection of white, red and yellow colors. At the base of his large, three-and-one-taloned feet (with the one being in the back) was a series of "feathery" frays that all but concealed his "lethal-looking" talons. From there up to just below his knees was colored a rich, bright yellow that made a slight spiked pattern before turning to red up until his mid-torso. He also had a single gray pointed spike behind each of his knees, the purpose of which I had never found out. He also had a small tuft of red "feathers" in a small tail out of his backside.

From just above his waist to the downward, V-shaped "ponytail" that went from top of his head to his tail was a "crown" of white "feathers" with a yellow "diamond" in the exact center of his chest. His arms, though, were almost entirely red and looked _extremely_ fit, despite the fact that he was a balloon. And from just blow his elbows to his powerful, three-clawed paws was what looked like gray-scaled "crow's feet". This part of him was slightly tougher than the rest of him, even though he was only as thick as the others had been when I had gotten them.

Blaziken's head was the most intimidating part of all of him. It was roughly falcon-like in shape and appearance and a V-shaped, pair of red "antennae" grew up off the top of his head and all the way down to the tip of his beak. His eyes were the most unusual, though. While most creatures had whites and colored irises, Blaziken's were yellow with clear-blue irises with a small, narrow pupil in the very center.

All in all, this very special Pokémon was the spitting image of a natural-born warrior. I was a little worried about how he would act once I brought him to life. Aridos had said in his letter that he might be a little startled by his balloon-like physique, so I didn't know what to expect. I just hoped he didn't try to hurt any of us with those "leftovers" that Aridos had mentioned.

There was only one way to find out. I went to the side table where I had left the paper used to awaken the balloons and grabbed it. I hadn't yet memorized the words on it, so I needed a little visual reference.

Lugia was just starting to get up when I turned to face Blaziken and said out loud, "Unubo! Calo! Rhouxo!"

At first, nothing happened. Blaziken still bobbed next to the wall as the magic words took a moment to kick in. But finally, they hit home as life filled the Pokémon's face and he staggered around, trying to regain his balance.

Like with Lugia, Blaziken appeared a little dizzy from being awaken for the first time, but he finally regained his balance and held a paw to his head.

"Blaze..." he said in a deep, bass-like tone that I recognize immediately. "Blaziken-Blaze Blaziken."

_He appears to be saying that he feels like he jumped too high and became lightheaded,_ said Lugia, who was preening his wing rather noisily.

I looked at him. "You can understand him?"

_Of course. I _am_ a Pokémon, after all. Can't you?_ He directed the question to Tails, who shook his head.

"Not really... no."

By now, Blaziken had fully recovered and was examining his paws curiously. He examined them for a moment before turning them and flexing them, listening to the strange squeak they were giving off. Apparently this was interesting to him because he looked up at me and spoke in Pokémon.

"Blaaaze? Blaze-Blaze Blaziken?"

Tails and I automatically looked at Lugia. "Translation?" I said. "What did he say?"

Lugia smiled and walked over to face his fellow balloon. _He said, "What happened to me? Is this part of the afterlife?" I'm afraid not, my friend," _he said to him._ "This is the real deal._

Blaziken suddenly looked like it had been scared stupid. It trembled as it looked all over its body and poked it, feeling it flex under his touch.

"Blaaaziken! Blaze-Blaze Blaziken! Blaaaze!!!"

I didn't need to have that translated to know that he was scared out of his mind. He had obviously been on his way to the afterlife when he had been put inside of a form that was yet was not his. He hadn't been informed of this, either, so he was at a loss for what to do.

Lugia seemed to read him like a book because he placed his wing on Blaziken's shoulder and began speaking in a Lugia version of Pokémon. All I could make out was a series of purrs, squeals and coos, but judging from the look he and Blaziken gave me and Tails at one point, he must have been telling him about who his new family was.

Blaziken seemed to finally understand, but he still seemed a little jumpy about his new form. He spoke in Pokémon to Lugia and pointed to me, receiving an answer back from Lugia that seemed to reassure him that everything was just fine now. And to show his understanding and loyalty to his new "Trainer", he stepped around Lugia and stood in front of me.

I was completely caught off-guard when he bowed low and spoke. "Blaze Blaziken! Blaaaziken!"

I looked nervously around him at Lugia, who channeled his answer to me and Tails without letting Blaziken hear him. _He is introducing himself. He says that you are his Trainer now._

I blinked at this. "It's okay, Blaziken. We can just be friends. In this world, you and I are equals. There's no superiority here."

Lugia relayed this message to Blaziken in Pokémon. But Blaziken wouldn't hear it. He spoke back to Lugia, who told me, _He doesn't care. He has always answered to his Trainer and he isn't about to change that anytime soon. As far as he's concerned, you are his Trainer and commander._

"Oh... kay... Then, welcome aboard, Blaziken."

Blaziken nodded and suddenly looked around my waist. I knew what he was looking for – he was looking for his Poké Ball, but Lugia explained that in this world, he was free to move around as he pleased without being confined to a Poké Ball. Thankfully, he understood and bowed to me again. He then went to go investigate Tails, who was once again playing Pokémon Emerald and sat down on the couch to try and engage him in conversation.

I, however, was remembering what Aridos had said in his note. "Say, Lugia, Aridos had said that you could make it so that everyone could understand Blaziken. What did he mean by that?"

Lugia paused in the middle of cleaning himself and looked up at the ceiling. _You know, I've always wanted to try that. It shouldn't be much of a problem, but let's see what Blaziken thinks, first._

He walked over to the couch and reengaged Blaziken in a Pokémon-based conversation. It sounded like Blaziken was showing interest in Lugia' proposal but looked a little alarmed when he suddenly held his paw to his throat. After some more reassurance from Lugia, he finally conceded and stood up to face him.

The two of them faced each other while Tails and I watched on in amazement. Lugia was waiting for something, but I couldn't be sure what. After a while, he took a deep breath, causing Blaziken to go stiff for a moment before he blew a constant, gentle stream of blue... I think it was Dragonbreath, but I didn't know a Lugia _could_ learn that. Anyway, he blew it straight at Blaziken's throat and the powerful breath seemed to collect in his throat as a glowing blue orb before it spread out throughout his entire body. Blaziken shuddered and I could tell that the feeling must have been ice-cold even for a Fire-Type. Finally, his entire body glowed a bright blue color and he was lifted a few inches off the floor for a moment before he drifted back down and collapsed to his paws and knees.

Tails and I were speechless. "What did you do to him?" he asked.

Lugia closed his eyes and nodded. _I simply gave him the gift of human speech. Anything he wants us to know, he can tell us properly now._

Blaziken coughed a few times while he was down before I saw what appeared to be actual flames spurt from his beak and lick the carpet before he finally got himself under control. Now I knew what Aridos had meant by "leftovers". He could obviously still breathe flames, so we would have to be careful that we weren't on the business end of them in case it unexpectedly popped one of them.

"Are you okay, Blaziken?" I asked as he carefully picked himself up.

"I... I think so." His voice still had the same tone and power as before but was obviously now in English. "I'm not used to that kind of power around me."'

Tails looked impressed as he nodded at Lugia, who simply went back to cleaning himself. I, however, was just glad that we could communicate better now.

"Now that you can talk, is there anything you want us to clear up?"

Blaziken massaged his throat for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I think Lugia cleared everything up for me."

"Well, that's good. But since I'm your "Trainer" now, can I get anything for you?"

As if it had waited for me to ask this, both Blaziken's _and_ Tails' unseen stomachs began to act up. I could understand Tails' – he hadn't eaten in a while – but I was confused as to why Blaziken's was making noise. He had just been awakened, so he should have has some time to get used to his new form before he thought about food. Then again... he probably already has.

"You guys hungry?" I said, collecting the bottles of liquid with Tails' and Blaziken's stickers on them. "I can whip up a batch of noodles if you want."

The two of them looked at each other before looking back at me and nodded. "Yeah," said Blaziken. "I'd like that."

_You three eat without me,_ said Lugia, heading in the direction of my room. _I already ate. I just need to finish my nap and then I'll be good to go for today._

Since we couldn't argue with that, Tails saved his game and watched some TV while Blaziken headed to my spare room for reasons unknown until I called them for lunch.

To be on the safe side, I made _two _pots of noodles for lunch. One of them was for me while the second one would be for Tails and Blaziken. I had never cooked for anyone other than myself before, so I tried not to mess it up. When the water finally came to a boil in both pots, I opened the tops of the two bottles and gave them both a good squirt in their pot before adding the noodles. I figured that the water would seep into the noodles as they cooked. Ten minutes later, I called to them and lunch was served.

Before that, though, I noticed that as the noodles cooked, they got harder and harder to stir. They were turning out much thicker than my noodles were and soon, they had all but soaked up the water. While I was draining them, the noodles with the liquid inside didn't appear to stick to the pan. Out of curiosity, I took one of them out to get a feel for it. Sure enough, it was much tougher and much more rubbery than my noodles were, and even a small taste proved them impossible to eat as I was. Now trying to get the taste of rubber cement out of my mouth, I served each of them a plate and simply salted and buttered my own.

"You know," said Tails once he had sat down. "I've never eaten rubberized human food before. And I've certainly never had my own flavors mixed into it."

"Well, then it's a new experience for the both of you," I said, eating already to get that sour taste out of my mouth.

Tails and Blaziken examined their food with interest before they used their hands to sample the food. (They wouldn't even touch the metal forks that I had set aside for them.) And judging from the expressions on their faces, they were liking it.

"This is delicious!" said Tails, trying to be polite and not shovel the food into his mouth. "Everything that I find delicious and packed with energy is in here! Regular latex is good, but this stuff is amazing!"

Blaziken agreed. "It seems to be exactly what I want in my food and make it burst out with flavor and nutrition. Thank you very much, Alex."

I was just glad that I could please them. Cooking for balloons seems to be another thing that I was good at. I ate my food in peace while the others savored everything that they put in their mouth.

When we were all done eating, Blaziken was rather restless while I cleaned up. "This apartment is too small. I can't get any decent training in here without burning anything to the ground. I want to go outside where I can move around a little better. In fact..." He looked at me curiously. "Would you like to train with me?"

I had never been asked this before, but I had a feeling that he wanted to merge with me. I had no idea how I knew that or if Blaziken really knew what his body was capable of. But I went along with it.

"Sure. If it's not too much to ask of you."

Blaziken grinned. "Thank you. You'll love it. You and I can train as one and get stronger together."

"Uh... okay. How do you plan to do that?"

Blaziken walked over and stood a few feet away from me. "Hold still. I need you inside of me, but you need to remain calm while I do this."

I was thinking that he was going to bring me inside of his body through normal means, but I was unprepared when Blaziken placed moth of his paws on my shoulders and took a deep breath, shooting out a jet of "transparent" flame. The instant it had hit my face, I blacked out, leaving me completely at Blaziken's mercy.

Blaziken had not fired real flames at Alex. Instead, he had used a special power that being a balloon granted him and had set him ablaze with a kind of clear flame. The fire did not burn anything but instead seemed to swallow Alex up like a black hole, leaving just a thin, white smoke where the flames had gone out. Blaziken then stepped into the smoke and inhaled it deeply. It was like he was drawing Alex's ashes into his body, filling him with his essence and mind. He then reformed him inside of his body so that they would share the same form but would be two separate minds. Technically, they would be one entire being, enabling each other to act as one but think as two separate minds. They would walk, run and jump as one, but they would each have their own interpretation of the experience.

Tails, meanwhile, looked on in awe. "I hope you didn't kill him."

Blaziken finished breathing in the smoke and looked at him with a grin. "He's fine. He's tucked away inside me and will be waking up soon enough. Lugia!" he called to him in Alex's room.

_Yes?_ came Lugia's mental reply. He was still asleep, but his mind still heard him.

"Alex and I are going out for a while. We'll be back in a few hours."

_Very well. We will be here when you come back. Have fun!_

And with that, Blaziken decided to break from tradition and leave the apartment via the living room balcony. After he had slid the door open, he climbed up on the railing and leaped high into the air before coming to a neat landing on the ground below. He then made like a frog and began leaping away into the city to awaken Alex and do some better training.

When I finally woke up, I found my body already in motion. I was high in the air and was coming down out of an impressive jump in a place I did not recognize. Everything around me was covered with a black-and-green grid like a virtual reality training area. I knew that there were no such places in the city, which led me to believe that Blaziken had brought me somewhere unknown.

"About time you woke up," said Blaziken's voice as we landed neatly on the ground. "I was waiting for you to come around so that we could do some proper training."

I somehow knew that Blaziken and I were acting as one, so what he was feeling, I was feeling at the exact same time.

"Where... where are we?" I said as we ran forward to a narrow gap between two digital walls.

As we jumped up from wall to wall to reach the top, Blaziken paused on one wall to tell me. "This is a little something that Aridos put together for the both of us in his shop. We're taking virtual training right now."

As we reached the top of the walls, the two of us started running down a narrow path with fire arrows shooting out of nowhere to hit us, just barely missing them.

"I never knew that Aridos was so... technologically advanced."

"Are you kidding? This is nothing! Wait until we reach the end of this course. Then the _real_ training begins!"

"Oh... kay..." I went along with him until we reached a green pad at the end of the course. "You obviously take great pride in your competitive skills, don't you?"

"Of course. We Blaziken are natural-born fighters. We eat courses like this for breakfast everyday in the wild."

The instant we touched the green pad at the end of the course, we were automatically teleported out of the course to an arena high above a sea of lava in a mountain somewhere. I automatically knew this as Mt. Battle from Pokémon XD.

"I think you and I need to work together on this one. Hold on a moment."

The two of us took a deep breath and blew a massive Flamethrower at an empty spot. But when the attack left Blaziken's beak, I went with it. I was ejected out of his body and was infused with the Flamethrower. I thought Blaziken was getting rid of me, but instead, the flames gathered around a central point and began taking a new but familiar form.

When I was fully formed again, I suddenly realized that I had taken the form of a Charizard! I could feel pure muscles and power rippling under my skin and I could barely believe what had happened to me!

"Blaziken, what...?" I turned to see that Blaziken was standing on the other side of the arena, his wrists ablaze with small fires.

"You and I are going to train together. And what better way to do it than as a pair of Fire-Types."

I had to give myself a pinch to make sure that this was real. Those claws hurt a lot, so that ruled out the fact that I was having a crazy dream. And the feel of the large flame on my tail only confirmed that this was the real deal.

Feeling better than I had ever felt before, I turned to Blaziken and spread my wings. "Get ready to feel the heat, Blaziken!"

Blaziken assumed an attack pose and smiled mischievously. "Come and get some, Alex!"

A few minutes later, the two of us were exhausted. We had literally taken each other to the very brink of our abilities in our battle. I didn't even know that I was capable of such power and athleticism, but this Charizard form seemed to come with its own instruction manual.

"Good battle, Blaziken!" I called to him, struggling to stay on my feet.

"Good battle, Alex!" Blaziken was barely staying on his feet as well. "Shall we call it a draw?"

I could barely go on and I knew that he felt the same way. "I think so. I just can't beat you like this!"

Blaziken's fires went out as he relaxed his pose. "Very well. I guess we'd better be heading back home. Hold on."

This time, he fired the same kind of transparent flame that he had used back in my apartment and hit me square in the face. I was instantly set ablaze, but this time, I was conscious of what was happening. Then with one deep breath, he pulled my essence and the clear Flamethrower back into his body so that he and I were one again.

But I didn't stay conscious for long. The battle had all but sapped my strength. And once I was back inside Blaziken's body, I gave out and went back to sleep deep inside his mind. I had had fun with him and deserved every bit of rest I was going to get.

Now that Alex was safely tucked away, Blaziken called out to the sky, "Aridos! We're done! You can turn it off now!"

There was a brief moment's pause before Blaziken's mind blanked out for a brief moment. When he came to, he was standing inside Karmen Aridos' back room on top of a podium that he had set up for them to practice with. He had made it out of a previous invention that he had used way back when he had sold his first Flammie plush.

Blaziken turned to Aridos and "cracked" his neck. "Thanks for the help. I think Alex and I now understand each other a little better."

The old man looked up at the giant and nodded. "Anything for a dear friend of a friend of mine. Are you planning on returning anytime soon?"

Blaziken shrugged and massaged his knuckles soothingly. "I might, but I think Alex is going to be busy with his next balloon next time. Maybe when he lets us do as we please, I'll be back."

Aridos nodded. "Speaking of the next balloon..." He shuffled over to a counter and rummaged through a drawer for something. "...I've got the next one in here somewhere... where did I put it? Ah!"

He finally produced another package with a picture of the next balloon in Alex's series on it. He then went up to a shelf and grabbed a bottle with the same face on it and gave them both to Blaziken.

"You'll have to carry these back. If you swallow them to carry them, you'll damage both it and you at once and I'm sure that Alex would not be impressed."

Blaziken frowned slightly but nodded anyway and took the package and bottle delicately in his claws to carry back. "Thank you, sir. I will not forget you and will do whatever it takes to keep Alex happy."

Aridos nodded but then realized something. "I have one more thing for you." When Blaziken looked frustrated, he chuckled and added. "Don't worry; it's just instructions for the next balloon that Alex will read in the morning. You can store this in your body since you obviously have your hands full. Here..." He held the note up and Blaziken squatted down and licked up the note like it was a piece of candy. The yellow parchment slid down his throat and came to rest in a part of him where his rubber fluids would not affect it.

Once Blaziken was set, he bowed to Aridos and left the shop for a walk back to Alex's apartment. He didn't dare jump in case he woke Alex or dropped any of these items. He knew he could handle it, but he wanted to be extra careful just in case.

**Chapter 4: Ay Yai Yoshi**

The next morning, I woke up in my bed once again with the same film-like coat of liquid latex and reeking of rubber. Thankfully, I was on top of the covers and the latex had dried, so it did not stain my sheets. I rolled out of bed and went to go get in the shower. I wondered if I would have to do this every time after I merged with each of my balloons, but then again, I doubted that they could really help it. It was just something I would have to get used to while I was living with a family of living balloons. Oh well...

Once I got out of the shower, I was surprised to find Blaziken and Tails playing Super Smash Bros. Melee on my Gamecube while Lugia was missing in action. Tails was playing as Yoshi while Blaziken had gone with Mewtwo. I had noticed recently that whatever game Tails was playing in the morning had something to do with the balloon I received soon after that. Maybe it was just luck or there was really something else at work here. I couldn't be sure.

"Greetings, Earthlings!" I said playfully as I stepped into the living room. "And how are we this fine morning?"

Tails paused for a moment to acknowledge my presence while Blaziken waited patiently for him to get back to the game. "Good morning to you, too, Alex. Did you just get out of the shower?"

"I did, actually. Do I still smell?"

Both Blaziken and Tails looked at me, but Tails answered first. "To us, you always will, but you actually smell good to us."

I chuckled uneasily as he said this. "I guess I should make breakfast before you try and eat me again." I looked around for a moment. "Say... where's Lugia? Wasn't he here last night?"

Blaziken shook his head. "He left around midnight last night to go for a little moonlit flight. He wanted to take you with him, but after I threw you up last night, you were still out like a light, so he left without you."

I felt disappointed that I wasn't able to go on a flight with Lugia for the first time since we merged, but I guess it couldn't be helped. "Did he say when he would be back?"

Tails shrugged. "He said he wanted to try something near the ocean before he got back, but he wasn't very specific, so no, not really."

Wondering what Lugia could possibly be trying out by the ocean, I dismissed it and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Lugia was a responsible individual and would return when he was ready. He was one of, if not _the_ most powerful Pokémon in existence; he should be able to take care of himself without me.

And with that behind me, I went to the kitchen to cook the others some breakfast. I was pretty good when I wanted to be, so this shouldn't be a problem. I automatically went to grab Tails' and Blaziken's bottles of "Balloon Food" but stopped when I reached them.

There was a fourth full bottle of food sitting where the other ones were on the table. I was sure that there had only been three yesterday, but there were obviously four here now. What's more, the label on the bottle showed a clear picture of the lovable little...

"Yoshi?" I thought out loud as I picked it up. "When did I get this one?"

Blaziken paused the game and came over to me. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. While you were out, Aridos gave me the next one of us for you to inflate in the morning. I brought it back here last night for you to use today. By the way..." He suddenly stuck his paw through his stomach and grabbed something that was inside of him. When he pulled it back out, he produced another letter on the same yellowed parchment as the other three. "This is for you."

I took the letter in disbelief of what I had just witnessed and unfolded it. Unlike myself when I had been in the same position, the note was completely dry and latex-free. I looked at Blaziken for a moment and shook my head.

"Remind me to ask you how you did that."

Blaziken nodded and returned to his game. I scanned over the letter from Aridos and red it to myself.

Dear Mr. Schaefer,

You're doing very well with your friends. They have nothing but good things to tell me about you. Blaziken has informed me that you took him to the very limit while you were training in my shop yesterday. I congratulate you on your progress and hope that you will keep up the good work.

This brings me to the fourth of the eight balloons I have reserved for you. You probably already know by now that it is a balloon form of the infamous dinosaur, Yoshi. I went to extra lengths to make this one capable of human speech, which will be good for you and the others. Yoshi is also very curious and will certainly want to explore anything he can find.

You're probably wondering about what has made Yoshi so famous – his appetite. Don't worry about this; I have toned his cravings down to where he will not eat you out of house and home. Keep an eye on that tongue, though. If he gets that around you... well... just go with it until the effect wears off.

By now, it must be almost time for you to go on your weekly paper route. I can assure you that Yoshi will be only too happy to accompany you with your job. He is very loyal and will do almost anything you tell him to do.

Another heads-up – your friends will be throwing a party soon to celebrate the halfway mark of your order. This might be a little bizarre for you, but I recommend that you go along with it until the party is over. Try not to offend them by refusing their offers. They have not been together for some time now and are only too happy to include you in their festivities. Just go along with them and it will all be over before you know it.

Until next time,

Karmen Aridos

At least he had been conscious enough to warn me about the up-and-coming party. I was both worried and curious at the same time. I had never been to a Synthetic party before, so I was a little curious about what they had planned. I had a feeling that I was going to be the center of attention, so that only added to my concern for what was going to happen. Oh... boy...

Meanwhile, I had a new friend to inflate and then a meal to cook. I spotted the new package above the entertainment center and grabbed it to open it. Tails and Blaziken suddenly became interested and ended their game to watch their new friend "blow up". They both took a separate seat and watched as I slit open the packaged and emptied the contents into my hand.

Amid the sea of green, white and red, I managed to find the balloon's mouth and managed to start inflating it. Just like before, I found it rather easy to inflate and it was soon at full size within a dozen breaths. When I was done, I stepped back and examined my work.

Out of all the colors that Yoshi came in, I felt glad that this one had come in the classic green. He stood about five feet from head to toe. The latter, though, was covered by a pair of thick, brown "leather" shoes that added to Yoshi's remarkable kicking power. Most of his body was a rich, deep green except for his underside all the way up his front and around the lower part of his face and cheeks.

On his back was a small red saddle with a white lining that I assumed was only there as a leftover from when he carried Baby Mario on his back. His center of gravity was now shifted slightly higher so that he looked more like an anthro version of his former self.

He also had a pair of medium-length arms with four short fingers on each one that were slightly bulgy on the tips. They looked kind of cartoon-like but not quite. And his tail was long enough to be called a tail but it was a little too short to serve any practical purpose.

In my opinion, Yoshi's head was the most adorable part of him. His rounded cheeks were colored a snow-white shade with a large, round nose on the end that looked like it almost "fake" His eyes were on top of his head and had thin, round, pale-blue irises around his enormous pupils. Finally, on the back of his head were three large, round, red "spikes" that kind of gave him a slightly draconic look.

That was Yoshi in a nutshell and I couldn't help giving him a comforting hug before I got ready to bring him to life. Tails and Blaziken looked at each other, but like the friends they were, they did not even crack a smile. Now that that was out of the way, I stepped back and took a shot at saying the magic words on my own for the first time.

"Unubo...! Calo...! Rhouxo...!" I paused a little in-between the words to make sure I got them right, but the result was the same nonetheless. That special park of life filled Yoshi's eyes and he sprang to life, albeit being a little wobbly to start out with.

Yoshi blinked a few times while making what sounded like a raspberry. Yoshi's did not make raspberries to insult people; it was more of a kind of sound they made when they were startled or dizzy. He then looked around his new environment to get in the details of his new home.

When he spotted Tails and Blaziken, the two of them waved to him and Tails greeted him nicely. "Hi, Yoshi! Welcome to Alex's apartment!"

"Alex? Apartment?" It's not very easy to describe a Yoshi's voice. Even the real things sounded a little squeaky and cheerful at the same time. You'd really have to play the games he stars in to know what he really sounds like.

Yoshi turned to look at me for the first time and looked me up and down. He seemed to be examining me for a moment before he made his judgment.

Apparently, he must have jumped the gun because the next thing I knew, he had shot out his long, rubbery tongue and had wrapped it around my torso three times, pinning my arms to the sides and ending in the large sticky end. I had a brief moment to realized what had happened before I was suddenly yanked straight down his gullet!

I had seen on the games how fast Yoshi wolfed his food and the kinds of things he had eaten in his life, but I never thought that he would eat _me_ at such a speed before. I was inside his stomach in an instant, which had bulged out incredibly for someone of his size and the next thing I knew, I was curled up in a fetal position inside an enormous balloon egg that he ejected out of his backside and into the middle of the living room.

It had all happened in less than three seconds. I had gone from tongue to tummy to egg in _way_ less time than it took for Lugia or Blaziken to devour me. What's more, this balloon egg was filled with a thick, syrupy goo that I recognized as the same latex goo that had covered me when I had been regurgitated before. But I had a feeling that _this_ stuff was more combustible that the others' and was what gave each egg it distinct explosion whenever Yoshi fired it.

I could barely see or move in here, but I could hear Tails and Blaziken outside trying to tell Yoshi about his mistake.

"You can't do that!" Tails was saying. "Alex is our friend! He's not the enemy! We don't eat him unless he wants us to!"

"If you keep him in there too long," Blaziken said, trying to break the eggshell with his claws. "He'll dissolve into liquid latex! We're not supposed to do that just yet! Get him out of there!"

With one good slash, Blaziken popped the egg and caused me and the goo inside to flood onto the floor all around me. I felt fresh air enter my lungs and gasped for breath as I lied in this liquid mess.

Yoshi was beside himself. "Alex! I'm really sorry! I didn't know who you were and thought that I was doing the right thing!"

I coughed and spat out a decent amount of latex as I lied on the floor. "It's okay. You didn't know. I've had worse happen to me already."

To show how sorry he was, Yoshi helped Tails and Blaziken get me to my feet and walk down the hall to the bathroom. "We'd better get you clean fast. If you wait too long, that goo will get into your skin and turn your body to rubber."

"You mean..." I said weakly. "I'll become a balloon?" I was curious as to what he meant by that.

Yoshi shook his head. "No. You'll still be the same, but you'll be 100 percent rubber inside and out. I hope you didn't swallow any."

"I... I don't think so. I think I spat it all back up."

I could see the relief on Yoshi's face as they stripped me down and laid me down in the bathtub. "That's good. If you swallowed any, this would be a lot more difficult. I'm really sorry that I did that to you."

"He said it's okay," said Tails, turning the water on full-blast. I was so weak that I didn't object to the temperature differences as they dialed in the right mix of hot and cold. "Don't worry about it."

Yoshi still looked uneasy as Blaziken volunteered to stay with me to make sure I got the latex slime off of me. I, on the other hand, did not object to Blaziken scrubbing me from head to foot with soap and shampoo. For some reason, being inside that egg had all but sapped my strength from me. I soon found myself drifting off to sleep.

Little did I know that the damage had been greater than I had initially thought...

As Blaziken watched Alex fall asleep in the shower, he continued to wash the slime off of his skin. He had to work hard to make sure that it all got off. For some reason, Yoshi's body fluids had been more potent than theirs had been. But the reason he was so exhausted was because Yoshi had intended Alex to be a meal. They were lucky enough to get him out of that egg before the damage had been irreversible. But they had cut it kind of close this time. His strength had already started to ebb away, leaving him meek and powerless at the moment. He couldn't help but wonder if there had been more damage than what he could see.

Nevertheless, he continued to clean Alex until he was completely free of the latex slime. He wondered what Lugia would say when he finally got home from his flight.

_Say about what?_

If Blaziken had had a real heart, it would have all but stopped at that moment. Turning around, he saw the form of Anthro Balloon Lugia standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Lugia!" he yelped suddenly. "We weren't expecting you back so soon!"

Lugia shook his head. _I told you I would be back, and now I am. Could you please tell me what you are worrying about?_

Blaziken knew that Lugia could read his mind, so he didn't bother beating around the bush. He told him exactly what had happened with Alex and Yoshi down to why Alex was lying unconscious in the bathroom under a running shower. When he was finally finished, Lugia was looking nervous and had come over to kneel in front of the bathtub to tend to Alex. Ignoring the water still coming down, he leaned over him and placed his head over Alex's chest, listening to his breathing.

After hearing his breathing pattern for a while, he pulled his head out of the water and sighed. _He'll be fine. His heart rate is normal and his breathing isn't labored. He just needs some rest and he'll be as good as new._

Blaziken looked astonished. "How can you tell that?"

Lugia looked up at him and smiled sadly. _Unlike you, Alex and I were once one entire being, down to one complete mind. Add that with the fact that I'm psychic and I'm pretty much Alex's legal guardian. Not that you didn't do well, yourself._

Blaziken shrugged.

Lugia turned back to Alex and shut the water off. "I think he's clean enough now. Let's get him to his room and let him sleep for a while. We'll worry about the party later."

Blaziken didn't need to ask Lugia what he meant by "party"; he already knew. But before that could happen, they had to tend to Alex's well-being to make sure he recovered enough to even make it _to_ the party.

As Lugia lifted Alex out of the tub, he held him up while Blaziken used his fire abilities to "blow-dry" him. They had to close the door so the fire alarm wouldn't go off from the heat of Blaziken's modified drying method. All he did was blow the same kind of transparent flame at Alex that engulfed him again, but did not change him. Instead, it was like a blanket of pure warmth that enveloped him, drying him off and comforting him in his sleep at the same time. Lugia felt the heat, but his latex skin was unscathed and unbroken.

Once Alex was completely dry, Blaziken did the honors o carrying him into his room. Lugia then took over and used his powers to cause him to levitate a foot over his bed while he redressed him in fresh, clean clothes. And once they were sure that he would remain asleep, they left the room and closed the door behind them.

Now there was the matter of tending to the one that had unintentionally done this to him. Yoshi and Tails already knew that Lugia had returned and were awaiting his judgment. Yoshi was the more nervous of the two since it had been he that had nearly liquefied him in the first place. Because of his power and knowledge of Alex, he had been declared the unelected leader of the four Balloonies and would remain the leader until the other four arrived.

As Yoshi sat on the living room floor with his head down, awaiting Lugia's judgment. He had just been inflated and already he had endangered Alex's life. He had no idea what Lugia had planned for him, but he hoped that he would consider that it had been a complete misunderstanding and that he hadn't meant to do it. But he couldn't read minds like he could, so all he could do was cross his fingers and pray.

Tails and Blaziken sat on the couch behind him while the guilty party kneeled on the floor in front of the unelected leader. This was going to be a version of Balloon Court, but in this instance, the judge and jury were the same person.

Lugia had his wings folded and his hands folded behind his back as he paced back and forth in front of Yoshi. The room was dead-silent except for the faint squeaking of Lugia's body. No one made a single sound except for the sound of someone shifting their body around.

Finally, Lugia had come to a decision. He stopped and turned to face the trembling dinosaur.

_Yoshi... there is nothing that you can say that can take back what you did. You were conscious of your actions and you let your stomach do the talking before Alex was able to tell you that he would feed you. You deliberately tried to make Alex into a distinct meal and brought about harm to his body that could have been irreversible._

Yoshi blanched as he realized that Lugia was going to throw the book at him. But the Anthro had more to say.

_But even though you still tried to consume him, the fact that he did not remain inside you long enough to permanently damage him must be taken into account. I know that your species is known for your appetite and you wanted to show Alex what you were capable of right off the bat. But you must realize that the method you chose was inappropriate and possibly deadly. I guess I can look past your species' natural ability to make throwing eggs out of your enemies. This I can overlook as natural instinct as long as it doesn't happen again before we are all together. We don't want to jump the gun and let Alex know what we hope to do to him._ (Author's Note: ...) _But your actions cannot go unpunished. And since Alex will be out for the rest of the day, he will be unable to head out into the community to deliver his paper route. So as your punishment, I am giving you the task of taking Alex's place and deliver the Sunday Reminders like he was supposed to._

Yoshi could not believe his luck. He was practically off the hook except for a little paperboy duties. He made a solemn promise never to eat Alex again without asking him. He was very sorry that he had nearly killed him and was determined not to repeat his mistake.

"Thank you, sir. I can't thank you enough."

Lugia nodded and then turned to Tails and Blaziken. _Tails and Blaziken, since Yoshi will be unable to carry all of Alex's papers at once, I am instructing you to set up drop points where Yoshi can restock. Other than that, you two are free to go._

They wanted to argue for having to take part in Yoshi's punishment, but they knew better than to argue with a balloon of his power, so they swallowed their pride and did as he said. But Tails had one question he just had to ask.

"What are _you_ going to be doing?"

Lugia knew that he didn't mean to offend him and answered it for him anyway. _I will be preparing for Alex's Halfway Party. I have to make sure that everything is perfect for when he wakes up. After what happened today, I think he could use a little bit of release to keep his mind off of his worries._

They couldn't argue with that, so they left with Yoshi to go do their jobs while Alex slept in peace.

**Chapter 5: Party Animals**

Before he left, Yoshi grabbed a duffle bag that Alex used to carry his papers in on his route and headed down to the entrance to stock up on the bundles of papers that had been sent to him. He couldn't pack _every_ paper, but he carry a decent amount before he had to reload. After he left, Tails and Blaziken grabbed what they could and spread out to different points where Alex normally drove to to reload when he was on his own.

As he watched the trio leave for the route, Lugia nodded from up on Alex's balcony and then headed inside to start making some calls. His apartment would be far too small to hold his Halfway Party in, and with the mess they were likely to make, they needed all the room they could. And besides that, he needed to do a few things himself to make sure they were not disturbed.

While he had been out the previous night, Lugia had scoped out the perfect place to have their festivities in private without attracting too much attention. Any stragglers that showed up anyway would be dealt with without blowing their cover. And after fusing with him for a while, Lugia knew exactly what would make Alex _very_ happy, even though they would only be temporary.

As soon as he was ready, Lugia began making the refreshments that would be served there. Being full of Alex's air had given him an inkling to cook that he was itching to try out. He had to be careful that he didn't burn himself on the stove, thus popping him and waking Alex prematurely, but he had confidence in his abilities, so he was not worried.

Meanwhile, Yoshi was walking through Alex's route, delivering his papers to the houses Lugia had sent into his mind. He knew exactly which houses to hit and which to skip. He was determined not to get on Lugia's bad side after just barely avoiding destruction himself and made sure to hit every house he had been told to. And just like he had said, Tails and Blaziken had gone ahead and set up different drop points along the route where Yoshi could refill at.

Tails and Blaziken, meanwhile, had finished their jobs and were deciding to have a little fun at the beach. There was a lake and park near the apartment called "Robin's Island" where people were coming and going all the time, so they took the rest of the day off to go enjoy the sun.

But like Tails' encounter, they couldn't just walk around in nothing but their skin, so they had had to do a little sneaking around before they found a can of hairspray with a little bit left that they could use to crystallize their skins. But unlike the cooking spray, the hairspray did not leave a residue on their skin, so they didn't leave any marks like Tails had before.

While Tails borrowed a blanket and laid out on the beach to catch a few Z's and some sun, Blaziken had decided to join a volleyball game that was going on further up the beach. At first, the people were indecisive as to what he was doing, but when they saw how high he could jump and spike the ball, they welcomed him with open arms and let him play with them. Some of the "beach babes" even wanted to get a few pictures with him. After a few uneasy moments, he finally gave in and posed with the ladies. They soon had a number of memories of him that he was able to break off from them and rejoin Tails, who was still asleep.

Lightly brushing the sand off of his friend, Blaziken lied back on a second blanket and looked up at the sky. He soon found himself thinking out loud.

"What could Lugia possibly have in store for us? I hope I like it with the rest of us. This is a big even for us. Four of us have already been awakened. I wonder what the other four could be like. Will I like them? Will Alex like them? We've done so much for him and he treats us like his friends in return. I guess that's that we really are; we're his friends." He soon fell asleep next to Tails.

The next thing he knew, Tails was waking him up and whispering to him. "Blaziken. Hey, Blaze. We gotta get back home. It's really late."

Blaziken looked up and saw that it was indeed very late. The sun had already set and the moon was at the top of the sky. He sighed and sat up.

"How long were we out?"

Tails shrugged. "I dunno. I think Yoshi's already back home, though. I guess we'd better get home before they start worrying about us."

The two of them started walking but then Blaziken noticed that their hairspray-covered bodies were covered in sand. "I think we'd better wash up first. Race ya."

Tails agreed and the two of them ran into the lake to wash the hairspray and sand off of their bodies, resuming their "squeaky" clean forms. They then took to the air and headed back to the apartment.

Lugia, meanwhile, had finished his preparations and was sitting in a chair next to Alex's bed in his room. He hadn't left his side in over six hours and was doing his best to make sure he slept soundly through the night. Every so often, he would place a hand over Alex's heart to make sure that he was still alive. The first few hours after he had fallen unconscious, Lugia had been worried. Any longer in that Yoshi egg and his body would have started corroding.

But now, he was back to normal and was sleeping like a baby under his intensive care. His heart rate was back to normal and his breathing was slow and steady again. But that still didn't stop him from being concerned. As is his nature, Lugia's purpose was to look over the safety and well-being of his owner.

Pretty soon, Lugia had fallen asleep over Alex's body, lending his warmth to him like the concerned Guardian he was. He would use his psychic powers to send him sweet, comforting dreams that he would always remember.

Yoshi couldn't sleep, though. He kept thinking about how close he had brought Alex to total liquefication. He kept walking around the living room, thinking and pondering to himself. Even when Tails and Blaziken returned late, he barely acknowledged them and kept pacing.

"You really shouldn't worry about it," said Tails, sitting down at the table to eat the rubberized meal that Lugia had set out for them. "You paid your dues and Alex is going to make it. It's nothing to lose sleep over."

Yoshi sighed and rubbed his nose squeakily with his hand. "I know. But I can't get the guilt out of my mind. I came so close to killing him that I just can't live it down."

Blaziken finished his meal quickly and went to comfort Yoshi. "You really need some sleep. Let me help you calm down and you can worry more in the morning."

Yoshi looked at him. "How are you going to do that?"

Blaziken smiled and stepped back to face the dinosaur. "Like this." He took a small breath and breathed a gentle, soothing, clear Fire Spin around Yoshi's body. Instead of popping him, it surrounded him like a cloud of clear smoke and seeped into Yoshi's rubbery body. It engulfed him for a moment, turning him temporarily ruby-red and causing his eyelids to droop. Finally, his natural color returned and he gently flopped onto the floor, snoozing like a kitten with a distinct "sleep bubble" coming out of his nose.

Tails looked at Blaziken impressively. "How did you do that?"

Blaziken shrugged and shook his head. "I really don't know. I guess there's abilities that each of us has that we don't even know about until we need them. Well, I'm going to go to sleep, too. Our party is tomorrow and I want to be full of energy for it when we all get there."

He then climbed onto one of Alex's couches next to Yoshi and curled up before falling asleep soon afterwards. Tails finished his meal and waited for it to digest and strengthen his skin a little more before taking up residence in Alex's favorite chair and curling up, falling asleep like the cute little fox that he was in a matter of seconds.

After a good night's sleep, I felt much better than I had after the ordeal in the Yoshi egg. My energy had returned and I felt well-rested after sleeping most of yesterday. I was glad that I was fine, but I wondered how Yoshi fared through all of this. He seemed genuinely sorry that he had nearly turned me into latex soup and I wasn't going to hold a grudge. I was sure that he didn't mean to eat me and I wasn't going to hold that against him.

Before I opened my eyes, I realized that someone was lying on top of me. I knew it was a balloon because I could feel their skin on my arms, but I couldn't be sure who. Judging from the slow, steady breaths it was taking, it had obviously fallen asleep on top of me while sitting on the chair next to my bed. I could feel its body heat generated from the warm air inside its body pressing against my chest and I was sure that it had been this form of comfort that had allowed me to sleep so soundly last night.

Finally opening my eyes, I smiled when I saw Lugia fast asleep in a sitting position with his upper area leaned over me. He seemed so peaceful lying there. I knew that Lugia was, is and always will be the most devoted and caring of all of my balloon friends.

"Lugia..." I whispered to him, trying not to move. "Lugia... Time to wake up."

Lugia's eyes slowly opened and he looked at me with a grin on his face. _Good morning, Alex. Are you well-rested after yesterday?_

I smiled and nodded slightly. "I am. Thank you for everything you and the others did to help me yesterday. I don't know how I can ever repay you for your kindness."

Lugia yawned and sat up, his body squeaking as he stretched out the unseen muscles in his arms and wings. _You don't have to do anything. If you really want to, though, you can join us in our Halfway Party today. We're planning something that I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss._

I stretched as well and sat up. "Really? What is it?"

Lugia got up and headed out of my room, pausing to smirk at me. _If I told you now, it wouldn't be a surprise. Let's just say that it will put you and us on the same page for a little while._

Wondering what on earth that could mean, I slid out of bed and followed him. In the living room, Tails and Blaziken were once again immersed in Super Smash Bros. Melee. They acknowledged me once I greeted them and then returned to their game. Lugia, on the other hand, was in the kitchen, cooking up a storm.

"I didn't know balloons could cook," I said, stopping in the kitchen to watch him.

Lugia smiled and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. _Normally, they can't. But we're no ordinary balloons. And since my skin is the thickest out of all four of us, I can handle heated conditions better than anyone else. How do you like your eggs?_ He motioned to the eggs he had set aside to fry in a pan apart from the rest of the others' meals, which were frying in a medley of the balloon food that Aridos had sent.

"Uh... hard, I guess."

Lugia nodded and broke the eggs with the plastic spatula. After flipping them over, he went to a grilled cheese sandwich he had cooking in another pan. I smiled at his efforts. I had never been able to maintain this many pots and pans at once, so I was impressed with how well Lugia was keeping them in check without letting anything burn.

Lugia watched me watch him for a minute before he smiled and shook his head. _It'll be a minute. Why don't you go talk to Yoshi? I'm pretty sure he has something he'd like to tell you._

I shrugged and went back into the living room to find Yoshi sitting on a couch, not paying attention to Tails and Blaziken's game. He looked apprehensive as I approached him and sat down next to him.

Yoshi sighed and looked at me so that I could see the thin blue outline of his eyes. "I'm very sorry for what I did yesterday, Alex. I really didn't mean to endanger you in any way."

I chuckled to myself and gave him a pat on the saddle. "It's really nothing, Yoshi. I'm not one to hold a grudge and I think you should just let it be. What's done is done and we should get on with our lives."

Yoshi nodded and looked away. He seemed to be thinking something over for a moment before I figured out what he was pondering. "If you like, you can eat me just for the heck of it."

The dino looked at me astonishingly. "Are you sure? I was just about to ask you that. Is it really okay?"

I hooked my arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "Sure. We're friends, right? And a friend like you takes pleasure in eating someone like me, so why not? I'm up for it."

Yoshi looked like all of his worries had just melted away. "Okay. We'll have to do that sometime."

"Not right now, though," said Lugia from the kitchen. _Breakfast is ready for all of you. The only eating of anything right now will be this food. Come and get it, all of you._

Tails and Blaziken paused their game and we all came to the table to have our breakfast. Lugia had prepared quite a spread for us all. Eggs and a grilled cheese sandwich for me, a plate of bacon laced with balloon food for Blaziken, rubber toast and latex jelly for Tails and hard-boiled rubber eggs for Yoshi. And for dessert, a round of cinnamon rolls that I had smelled just before it had been ready for all of us. Lugia didn't eat anything except for a few drinks of his balloon food straight from the bottle, causing it to refill once he had reached the final drops.

"How does that taste?" Tails asked him, looking up from his toast. "How can you drink it straight?"

Lugia shrugged and had another swig. _It's very potent, but I wouldn't suggest drinking it straight. I can handle very strong-tasting rubber foods, so it's like having a drink of strong human vodka. It burns going down, so it's for those with acquired tastes. Besides, it strengthens my skin much faster this way because of the straight nutrients._

We couldn't argue with that, so we returned to our meals while we kept our eyes on those cinnamon rolls cooling on the counter. After we had eaten everything in front of us (Yoshi was done in five seconds flat), we all headed back into the living room where Lugia had something to tell us.

_I know there's only four of us, but I feel that Alex deserves our attention and affection for keeping us all happy and well-fed for the past few days. So as a reward and repayment for all of his good deeds, the five of us are going to just kick back and enjoy ourselves. I've prepared snacks for us and entertainment for the rest of the day. I encourage all of you to just relax and do what comes naturally for you. In a few hours, I've prepared a surprise for Alex that we'll all want to see. Until then, enjoy!_

It took a few seconds for what Lugia had said to sink in as he went back to the kitchen to get the snacks. The four of us looked around each other, unsure what to do. But then Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi all had the same mischievous smile on their faces that I figured had to do with me.

"Rubber pile!" they all said before they all piled on top of me, pulling me onto the floor and pulling almost all of my clothes off. I was completely pinned down on all sides by the ecstatic balloons and half-naked on my own floor. I had no idea what they were planning, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Tails? Blaziken?! Yoshi! What are you doing to me?! Let me go!"

But all three of them held me firm and Tails placed his hand over my mouth to keep me from speaking. "We've been waiting a week for this! We're not going to let you go anytime soon, so I suggest you learn to live with it."

I was scared out of my mind at the hands of these bizarre balloons, but I was completely at their mercy, so I had no choice but to go with it.

(Author's Note: This part is going to get a little weird, so skip ahead if you are easily offended.)

While Blaziken and Yoshi held down my arms and legs, Tails began my placing his paws on my torso, slowly separating them to explore in different directions. I was horrified at what they were doing, but at the same time, I was enjoying it. The feel of smooth, warm rubber against my skin was almost overpowering. It was like a soft, silky skin was running over my body in a way that I could not escape it. It was a kind of intoxicating feel, but I was enjoying it nonetheless.

Tails' hands proceeded lower and lower until I thought they would go _too_ low. But then they skipped over my boxers and proceeded to explore my legs. He seemed to take particular interest in my feet, sticking his rubbery fingers in-between my toes. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't help myself. I was ticklish and he was doing a pretty good job of doing that.

Just then... "I think I'll take his legs."

Yoshi nodded and lifted his hands off of my legs. I had a brief moment to move before Tails climbed on top of me and laid out on my legs. I was wondering what he was doing as he started to "melt", turning into a thin layer of yellow rubber that began to wrap around every single nook and cranny of my legs. It was like he was melting onto them, turning my legs a rich, golden-brown and keeping them locked in place on the floor.

Still trying to understand what had just happened, Yoshi and Blaziken traded places with my arms as Blaziken took his turn to get a feel for my body. Like Tails, he began at my chest and started running his paws up and down my body, tickling me like mad and nearly causing me to laugh at the "torture" I was getting. He even got a feel for my face, taking bits of my hair and sniffing them in turn. All this time, Tails' body remained around my legs, holding them in place and keeping them from feeling any real felling.

Once Blaziken had fully explored my body, I saw him grin and look at Yoshi. "I call his torso. He needs my kind of muscle and strength for his surprise."

Yoshi nodded as Blaziken mimicked Tails and climbed on top and lied on me. Yoshi released my arms as Blaziken started to melt on top of me just like Tails. At first, he seemed to cover my entire body, but his head and legs started to recede into his torso as said body part molded itself over me. But unlike himself, Blaziken's torso turned one entire flat shade of fiery-red and his finer details were lost as them molded around my arms, hands, fingers and torso.

Now that Blaziken was in control of my arms, Yoshi took the opportunity to mold himself around my head just like Tails and Blaziken had done with my legs and torso. Fortunately, his head did not retain his normal shape and every inch of my face was covered in a thin green layer of latex. It was like putting on a super-tight ski mask that pressed into every single detail of my head and face, seeping into my pores and hair follicles.

By the time it was all done, I was covered from head to foot in a mix of green, red and yellow latex. I had no idea what they had planned for me, but it obviously had something to do with them fusing to my body like this. In fact, I could have sworn that I was starting to turn transparent under my new skins. I was! Their rubbery bodies were turning my skin and insides into a transparent wash of color. They were turning me into a balloon!

By now, Lugia had been watching us for a good ten minutes in the dining room. He hadn't done a thing to stop this and was casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, smiling intently.

_How do you feel, Alex? Are you ready for your big surprise?_

If this wasn't the surprise, then I was completely lost. I had just turned into a clashing colored balloon through three of my four balloon friends. What on earth could they still be planning?

I was about to find out. Lugia came over to me and knelt down by my side. He also took a turn running his hand over my body, but he was applying pressure in various points to see if my new body was the real deal. He pinched my rubbery skin in various points and asked me if it hurt. I blankly shook my head each time, which seemed to confirm that I had almost no feeling left in my body.

Finally, Lugia helped me sit up and I was soon on my feet. He made sure I was able to keep my balance. I felt much heavier than I was sure I weighed at the moment. He then held me at arm's length and looked me square in the eyes.

_Are you ready for this?_

I nodded squeakily. I was surprise at how the slightest movement could cause my body to make squeaky music like this. Lugia nodded and lowered his arms. He then spread his wings wide and took a deep breath before blowing a gentle, steady stream of blue Dragonbreath.

The magical breath surrounded me like a shroud for a moment before it had fully engulfed me. It then began to seep into my skin, filling it with energy and life. It was so overpowering that I momentarily blacked out.

When I finally came to again, I found that my body temperature had dropped substantially, but somehow, I found that I could tolerate it. It was like ice was flowing through my nonexistent veins, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. I also felt pure, unadulterated power in my new muscles that could have rivaled even Blaziken in power. Despite the fact that I was still a balloon, I felt much stronger and my skin was much more durable than it had previously been.

_Good, you're awake. What do you think of it?_ Lugia was standing over me, looking down at my lying form on the floor.

I tried to clear the cobwebs in my head and got gingerly to my feet. I didn't feel like I should, even after absorbing Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi almost all at once. I also felt a few things that shouldn't have been there. Now that I could see properly again, I could see myself reflecting in Lugia's shining body. And what I saw made me feel both honored and astonished at the same time.

Lugia's Dragonbreath along with the combined powers of my three balloon friends had transformed me into a pure ice-blue... _ice dragon!_ I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I quickly ran to the bathroom to get a good look in the mirror.

Yep, I was a Balloon Ice Dragon, alright. I stood on two strong, "muscular", digitigrade legs with four "sharp" clawed talons on each one. Also, I had a long, thick, prehensile tail that was covered in a number of pointed barbs near the tip. Also, I had a pair of powerful, heavy wings that I flexed experimentally in the confined space in the bathroom. These were clearly a work of art that I planned to exploit to the very brink of their power.

My lean, muscular arms each had a five-fingered hand with a short claw on each one. They belonged to me, but they felt much more nimble and powerful than my old human ones. And on each of my shoulders were a number of additional barbs that flowed with a kind of strange venom whose purpose was as of yet unclear to me. And to top it all off, I had a thick, blunt, draconic muzzle with a set of rather impressive rubber fangs. I was pretty sure that I could do quite a number on any balloons that crossed my path. Finally, I had a pair of fierce, ice-blue (what else?) eyes. They radiated the power and strength that now belonged to me for the time being.

My entire body was covered in a coat of transparent, ice-blue scales. They gave my body a slightly rugged feeling to it that appeared to be much thicker than even Lugia's fine skin. Also, a fine, misty chill seemed to hang around me, quickly fogging up the mirror while I examined myself. It was like I had a kind of icy aura around me that dropped the temperature of anything that was around me at the time. There was only one word to describe a balloon like me – perfect. I was absolutely perfect.

_So, how do you like it?_ Lugia had come to investigate. _We were wondering what kind of form we could give you for the remainder of our Halfway Party and we settled with a classic ice dragon._

I turned to look at him and gave him a toothy grin. "This is great! I don't care how long I have it. You guys have certainly outdone yourself this time. How did you do all this?" My voice was like a deep, rumbling growl.

Lugia pointed to my head, my chest and my legs in turn. _Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi each lent some traits of theirs to give you this form. They're all sharing the same complete form as you, but you are the one in control right now. Tails' smarts, Blaziken's power and Yoshi's instincts – combined with my elemental powers and you are the spitting image of all of us. We thought we'd do you a favor and let you experience life as a balloon for a day just to get a feel for it._

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Lugia." I then looked down at my chest. "And thank you, Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi. I hope you're all enjoying this because I'm gonna prove how powerful we all are together."

Lugia grinned and placed a hand on my shoulder just above my barbs. _Well then, would you like to stretch those wings out properly? We can go for a little flight to give you some exercise. I doubt you've had much of that for the past few days._

I chuckled and agreed. "I couldn't agree with you any better than that. Let's go for it!"

Lugia nodded and led me out of the bathroom, through the hallway and the living room to the balcony behind my second couch. After carefully sliding the door open and then shut behind us, we both stood on the edge of the patio and looked at each other.

_Ready?_

I nodded. "And willing."

The two of us then spread our wing and leaped over the railing, catching the air immediately and taking flight into the city. We gained altitude and were suddenly high above the city. Neither of us had to pump our wings very much, but that didn't matter. We were the lords of the skies and this was going to be just another romp through our kingdom.

Deep inside me, I could feel Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi's joy and ecstasy flowing throughout my body. They were enjoying this just as much as I was and couldn't wait to feel more. Feeding off their confidence, I spread my arms and started to climb steeply through the air until I had gotten to about 10,000 feet. Lugia was not far behind as we finally broke even. I didn't dare go too high for fear of causing the air in my body to expand and detonate; I would work on that later. Lugia and the others could easily go much higher, but this was my first solo flight, so I didn't want to push it on the first try.

Once we had finally gotten to our desired height, the two of us locked our wings and looked down on the world. Granted, it wasn't as broad as the view he and I had seen as one just days earlier, but it was spectacular nonetheless. I felt the cool air flow over my rubbery body, taking pleasure in the cold feeling it gave me. In my current form, I lived for the cold and certainly didn't object to a little "breeze" like this.

To celebrate, Lugia and I flew close enough to each other to grasp each other's hands and go into a synchronized flight path. He didn't seem to bother the feel of my icy claws one bit. We then turned completely vertical and started climbing again, but this time, we were together. We put our complete trust in each other to hold on until the very end. It was a tradition among dragons, even though Lugia was only _part_-dragon.

Once we had reached an altitude of 25,000 feet, we stopped, still clutching our hands together. The two of us looked square in each other's eyes and we could each see the ecstasy and joy we were each feeling along with our faith in each other.

_Are you ready for this?_ he said, looking firmly at me.

I nodded. "Whenever you are. I'm going all the way."

And with that, and with our hand still clasped together, we flipped over and locked our wings against our backs, heading straight into a freefall. We began plummeting straight down to the earth at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a pair of massive balloons like ourselves. And still, we held our hands together, still maintaining our faith and trust in each other. We were speeding up, going faster and faster that made us feel like a couple of lead weights.

Finally, with only 200 feet until touchdown, Lugia and I nodded to each other and separated, going off in two different directions. The people who had seen us coming cheered and yelled happily for us having pulled off such a daring feat.

And with, we both sped back off to my apartment, enjoying our last few minutes in our flight. I had had fun and was glad that Lugia had done this for me. For the first time, everyone, including the ones inside of me understood how much freedom we had as balloons. We answered to no one, lived by our own rules and lived life with meaning almost every day. It was a kind of freedom that most beings would only dream of. It was our duty to live with each other, treating each day with meaning and living as a family, no matter how long we spent our days in a small, increasingly-overcrowded apartment.

And we were only halfway there...

**Chapter 6: A Heart of Krystal**

I slept like a log that night after returning to my apartment. After we had gotten back, we had spent a few final hours talking and carrying on. I even sampled some of the fine foods that Lugia had made for the occasion. Since Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi were all a part of me at the time, I got to taste a wonderland of flavors and delicacies from the rubberized foodstuff. It was some of the most delicious edibles I had ever had and I couldn't wait to try it again.

That night, Lugia accompanied me into my room and put me into a sedated but well-deserved sleep while he carefully extracted and separated the other three Balloonies from me. While I was out, all four of them returned to the living room and carried on with their party. They were celebrating both a job well-done and that they were halfway to becoming one complete set of Synthetics. They ate the rubberized food, talked and played different games that tested their flexibility while I slept on behind a closed door. Lugia had put me into such a deep sleep that I didn't even flinch when they got loud at one point. They made sure not to wake my neighbors, though. They didn't want to attract any unwanted attention and be discovered while I was asleep. I couldn't blame them, though. They had been my friends from the very start and had already done so much for me. They deserved to eat, drink and be merry just for the fun of it. In the morning, things would be back to normal with the long-expected arrival of my next balloon.

Once again, Lugia was missing in action when I awoke that morning. Tails and Blaziken were sound asleep on both of my couches while Yoshi quietly played Starfox Adventures on my Gamecube. Even for a rookie like him, Yoshi was pretty good. He had started a new game and was going through the opening as Krystal.

For the first time, I wondered if the games that these guys played every so often had something to do with the balloon that I was to get that day. Now that I thought about it, I figured that they somehow knew which of them was to arrive next and were trying to do some "research" on their balloon brethren.

Come to think of it, it WAS true. The day that Lugia had arrived, Tails had been using Lugia on Pokémon XD. When Blaziken was on his way, he had been playing Pokémon Emerald, where Blaziken had been my high-level starter Pokémon. And shortly before Yoshi had gotten here, Tails had been playing as him on Super Smash Bros. Melee. And now, Yoshi was playing as Krystal just a short time before my next balloon was to arrive.

I realized that there was a pattern going on here. Not only did the balloons know who was coming, but They were all arriving in the order of my highest-played characters that I had made myself. It had started out with Tails, then it went to Lugia, then after that, the order went: Blaziken, Yoshi, Krystal, Flammie, Shiron and finally Mewtwo. Now that I thought about that, I figured that I knew exactly who was going to arrive and when. Now that I knew that, I could better prepare myself for their arrival.

For a moment, I felt a little woozy and my stomach was making a fair amount of noise. I wasn't hungry after eating all of that rubber food last night, but I wondered if Lugia didn't turn me back a _little_ too early, disabling my balloon body's ability to digest the rubber food. Maybe all of it hadn't been digested when he had turned me back and that was what was making me feel sick. But my stomach had been "empty" when I had changed back, so it couldn't have been that.

Then as suddenly as it had arrived, the feeling passed and was just fine again. Yoshi looked at me for a moment before shrugging and returning to his game.

I casually went over and sat down on the floor next to him while Tails and Blaziken slept on. "Some party, huh?"

Yoshi nodded and licked his chops with his long tongue. "Those were some pretty good eats. I think Tails and Blaziken ate too much and their bodies couldn't keep up with them, so they crashed while their skins started thickening."

I chuckled. "Not a problem for you, I guess."

"Nope. I'm used to eating a lot of food in a short amount of time. Plus, my skin wasn't as thick as theirs to begin with, so the food was distributed evenly, thickening it faster than theirs could."

"You must have a high rate of metabolism."

"That's me. I can eat and eat and eat and then start all over from the beginning without skipping a beat."

I wondered just _how_ thick his skin had become and gently placed two fingers on his arm to give them a test pinch. He didn't seem to mind as I was met with ample resistance. His skin was so thick that it almost felt like I was touching real, smooth dinosaur skin. It was as close to the real thing as I could tell.

Yoshi smiled. "A little more and I'll finally turn solid. I'll be so close to the real thing that you'll hardly be able to tell the difference."

"Can it _get_ that thick?"

Yoshi nodded and chucked the barrel bomb that he had been carrying on the game. "Only if you eat a _lot_ of latex and take good care of your body. You can't increase your size very much or your body will stretch out and thin out."

I couldn't argue with that, so I went back to watching Yoshi's progress. A few minutes passed before something popped into my mind.

"Where's Lugia?"

Yoshi blinked and then shrugged. "I dunno. We were all asleep before he left. He didn't even leave us note when I woke up, so you got me there."

I knew that Lugia would tell us what he was planning if he was going to be gone for a while, but then again, he lived by his own rules, so he could take care of himself for a while on his own.

Just then, I heard the doorbell ring again, which promptly caused Tails to jerk awake, yelling "Corn Nuts!" before he finally came to his senses. I knew by now that I didn't have a doorbell, so the sound of one meant that my next balloon had arrived. While Tails recovered himself and Yoshi played on, I went to go answer the door.

Just like all the other times, there was no one there except for a small box on the floor with the Plushtopia insignia on it. I crossed my fingers as I carried it into the living room, hoping and praying that my suspicions were correct.

By now, Tails was sitting on the couch, massaging a still-bloated belly and looking sick. Yoshi had paused his game to watch me tend to the new arrival.

"Are you okay, Tails?" I said, setting the package on the floor. "You don't look so hot."

Tails groaned and continued to rub his milky-white-liquid-filled gut. "I think I ate too much. My body couldn't keep up with me and I think I passed out before the others did. Now I have to lay off the food until my body can catch up with my appetite."

Yoshi frowned and blew a Yoshi raspberry. "I _told_ you not to eat that egg, but you didn't want to listen to me!"

I looked at the fox with amazement. "You ate an entire Yoshi egg?"

Tails let out a small belch and groaned. "Yeah... in one bite, too. I didn't think much of it, but Blaziken dared me to do it."

Yoshi sighed. "I kept telling you that an entire egg by itself was too much for you, but _no!_ You had to call Blaziken's bluff!"

Tails looked at Yoshi and frowned. "It's your fault for filling it with so much liquid!"

I could see that this was going nowhere fast, so I decided to intervene. "Hey, guys! Chill! What's done is done, right? Tails'll digest it soon enough, but for now, let's just get a grip. Besides, we've got a new friend to blow up."

Tails and Yoshi looked at each other for a moment and then dropped it. They then turned to watch me open the box from Aridos.

In the box were the normal contents – a bottle of balloon food, a letter from Aridos and the bag containing the next balloon in the series. Sure enough, there was a picture of Krystal posing with her staff in a warrior's stance that I had seen in magazines prior to this. But a small footnote said quite clearly, "Staff Not Included." Oh well.

Like always, I went straight for the note to see if there was anything that Aridos wanted to tell me before I inflated Krystal. And like before, it came on a sheet of thick, yellowed parchment. It read as thus:

Dear Mr. Schaefer,

If you are reading this, then you have survived your first Synthetic celebration. I trust that everything went well and that your first experience as a balloon went off without a hitch. Keep in mind that you are only halfway there and that you have four balloons left, including this one.

There is something you must learn about this particular balloon. It seems that when I infused it with a spirit, I must have grabbed the spirit of the real Krystal just shortly after her death. Do not ask me to explain it, but let me just say that this must have been more than just coincidence. Once she awakens, she will not be familiar with her surroundings or her "condition". I trust that you will help her understand her situation and she will grow to trust you and your friends.

In her current state, Krystal is very vulnerable and it will take a few hours for her Telepathic abilities to kick in. I suggest you take it slow and hopefully, she will warm up to you. Plus, Krystal will know much about healing methods for all things Synthetic. It was a little something that I threw in with her persona. Should you or any of your balloons become ill, talk to her and she should be able to help you.

I need to do some further research on your next Synthetic before I send it to you, Mr. Schaefer. There is something about it that I cannot quite understand and will tend to in due time. If all goes well, I should have it to you by 6:00 PM two days from now. Just a heads up in case you start worrying about its arrival.

Good luck,

Karmen Aridos

This _had_ to be more than just a coincidence. I mean, a Krystal balloon with the spirit of the _real_ Krystal? This couldn't have happened by chance. The odds of this happening were astronomical, but for some reason, I was pleased that it was happening. I was actually going to have the real Krystal in my ever-growing family of Synthetics. What an honor this would be!

Handing the note to the others to read, I went straight for the package and slit it open, emptying the blue-and-white mass into my hand. This was going to be so cool! It had once been my dream to have Krystal as my girlfriend, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. I didn't even know at what point in her life she had been killed.

Once I had found her pale-blue deflated muzzle, I smiled at what I was about to do and began to inflate her. However, unlike the others, Krystal did not inflate as fast as they had. When I had gotten to a dozen deep breaths, she was barely even halfway inflated. I took a moment to catch my breath before returning to my project. Finally, she was at full size and I could finally take in her awesome beauty.

Even though she was made of rubber and her "fur" was completely flat, she still retained her amazing beauty. She stood at just over six feet tall, matching Blaziken's height, who was still fast asleep. Her features were truly a sight to behold. I noticed that when I had inflated her, her attire had remained the same as when she had been on Dinosaur Planet. She wore a tan "leather" bra over her rich bosom, a thick cloth over her loins, a pair of leather pads over her shoulders, a pair of thick, leather armlets around her wrists and her ankles. She also wore a pair of leather open-toed sandals, but I noticed something different about her feet. In the game, she had had three distinct toes, but the balloon version had _four._ Wondering if that was a translation error or what, I shrugged and continued my examination.

Like the rest of her attire, her long, blue, bushy tail had a pair of thick leather bands that looked like they were fused with the rest of her rubbery skin, so she couldn't exactly take them off. She also had the distinct white-inked symbols tattooed around her thighs, her forearms and her shoulders. I had read somewhere that they meant the name of her tribe when she had been on Cerinia. It had meant something to the effect of "Krystal of the Crimson Sun", hence, the spiral suns on her shoulders.

(Author's Note: This was not in any of the games. These were described in a story on Fan called "Reflections of Krystal". I forget who wrote it, but it is a very good and informative read. You should stop by there sometime. I've even got an account there.)

Krystal's chest "fur" was white, but pretty much the rest of her was a rich, deep, sapphire-blue. Her face was vulpine in nature and her eyes were a pale, sea-green shade. I had always thought that her eyes had been the same blue as the rest of her body, but after a little bit more research and a bit closer examination, I realized that they were in fact sea-green. And on top of her head were the classic, pointed, fox-like ears that I saw on most vulpines, anthro or otherwise. And across her forehead was a small golden tiara with a red gem set into the middle of it.

She also had a thin collection of locks of blue "hair", per se. It was quite bizarre to see hair on a "furry", but Krystal had opened my eyes to the endless possibilities in the world of furries. I noticed, though, that her hair was in much finer detail than it had been in all of the pictures I had seen of her in magazines. I figured that since it was the first time the developers had used Krystal in a game, her details weren't exactly perfect. It wasn't until Starfox Assault that her details had been sharpened to make her appear more woman-like. And one look at her perfect white nails on each of her slim, slender fingers only confirmed that this was an updated version of the "Adventures" Krystal. They had been black and pointed in her first appearance and it wasn't until Starfox Assault that her details had been buffed out a little. (That kind of explained why her footpaws had four toes instead of three.)

All in all, she was very beautiful whether it was the Adventures version, the Assault version or the Synthetic version. I had always felt jealous that Fox had been the one to fall in love with the real Krystal. Although he had never said so in the games, the fan fiction stories I had read indicated that they had developed feelings for one another. And at the very end of "Reflections of the Future", Fox had been unable to ask for her hand in marriage, but she had gotten the point anyway and answered with a definitive "Yes!"

But there were two possibilities that could happen with _this_ Krystal. Either she had never met Fox back on Dinosaur Planet or that _he_ had seen her, but she had been asleep inside Andross' machine. I doubted that Aridos would sent me a Krystal Balloon if she had already fallen for Fox in the first place.

But there was only one way to find out. I stood in front of the balloon and spoke the three magic, life-giving words. "Unubo! Calo! Rhouxo!" Tails and Yoshi were looking apprehensive when I finished the incantation.

At first, nothing happened, but I knew that it varied among which balloon I brought to life at what time. The Krystal balloon remained standing for a solid minute, its eyes looking off in their preset direction.

But then, I saw them roll up into her head so that only the white could be seen and she actually collapsed on the spot, slumping to the floor like she had fainted. I quickly caught her and kept her from hitting the floor, holding her head as her eyes closed and she lied in my arms, unconscious.

"Was that supposed to happen?" said Tails, looking nervous.

"I dunno," I said uncertainly. "None of _you_ fainted when I brought you to life."

"Is she breathing?" asked Yoshi, scooting over to us.

Since Balloonies breathed differently than real people did, this was tricky. They actually "pretended" to breathe to give them a lifelike appearance, but no air actually went into their bodies unless they wanted it to. So to ask if she was "breathing" meant that she was "pretending" to breathe.

Nevertheless, I held my ear to her muzzle to listen for any signs of "life". To my enormous relief, I could hear her breathing, but it was in slow, shuddering starts. She seemed to have had the life sucked from her just before I brought her back to life. I couldn't do CPR because I would just be adding air into her body that it did not need, so I was unsure about what to do.

"Here, let me." Blaziken had finally woken up and had heard everything going on with us. I was uncertain how this would help, but I allowed him to lean over her and place his beak over her muzzle. He then took a deep "breath" and blew straight into her mouth. It did not inflate her, but it seemed to work because the next thing I knew, she coughed lightly and took slow, steady "breaths". Blaziken, his work complete, went back to sit on the couch he had fallen asleep on to watch Krystal's awakening.

Krystal coughed a few more times before her eyelids opened slightly, revealing the bottoms of her sea-green eyes. She moaned as she looked straight up at me.

"Where... where am I?" Her voice was so unique that I can't even describe it to you. All I can say was that it matched her personality and video game counterpart to a "T". "Who are... who are you?"

I smiled and instinctively rubber the side of her face. "My name is Alex Schaefer. Welcome to my world."

"World... what...?" Krystal opened her eyes all the way and carefully sat up on her tail. After rubbing her head, she muttered to herself, "What happened to me? The last thing I can remember was that man returning the last Krazoa Spirit. But he was too late and I..." She paused. "I can't remember. It's all a blur to me."

She then turned around and noticed Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi for the first time. "Who are you? I don't remember seeing you in the Palace. In fact..." She looked at her surroundings. "This isn't the Krazoa Palace at all. I've never even seen a place like this before."

This confirmed my suspicions about where she had been before she had died. She must have been in Andross' machine and had run out of life just as Fox had released the final Krazoa Spirit. In the game, she had survived, but in real life, she must have just barely died before she came back to life as a balloon.

I looked at the three of them and whispered, "Don't stare. Introduce yourselves."

They caught on and Blaziken went first. He stood up and bowed nobly. "My name is Blaziken the Synthetic Pokémon. It's very nice to meet you, Krystal."

Tails then stood up and posed with his tails, waving to her. "I'm Miles Prower, but everyone calls me "Tails". I'm glad to finally meet the real Krystal of Cerinia."

Krystal looked blank as Yoshi stood up and spun on the balls of his feet, finishing in a pose I had seen on the original Super Smash Bros. "I'm a Yoshi, but just call me "Yoshi". I think you're really beautiful to meet in person."

Krystal actually blushed as I stood up and took my turn. Unlike the others, I simply walked over to her and held out my hand to greet her and help her to her feet.

"And I'm their "owner", per se. My name is Alex Schaefer, but I'm sure you already know that. It's a pleasure to meet you in the Real World, Krystal of the Crimson Sun."

Krystal looked astonished as I helped her to her feet. "How did you know my tribe? I never told anyone that since Cerinia was destroyed."

I balked and remembered that I was jumping the gun. I quickly recovered and pointed to her tattoos. "Lucky guess, I guess."

Krystal looked at her arm and then back at me with a smile. But then she looked back at her arm for a moment. She seemed to be trying to figure out why she could see through it and why she couldn't feel as well as she once could.

"What happened to me? I don't feel like I should. My fur feels numb and so does my skin. It's like I'm filled with nothing but air."

She was bound to find out sooner or later, and from the looks on my friends' faces, I had to tell her now and get it over with.

"Krystal, you're not imagining this. You are now made of rubber." When she still looked blank, I added, "Krystal, you're a balloon now."

At first, this didn't register with her. She looked at me with an indecisive look as if trying to figure out if I was crazy. But then, she looked down at her paws and the realization of what she had become finally hit home.

"NOOOOO!!!" Krystal looked all over her body and tried pinching herself to confirm that she was dreaming. But judging from the lack of pain she was feeling, she seemed to finally get it. "I can't be a balloon! I _can't_ be! I'm alive! This has to be a dream! I'm back in the Krazoa Palace waiting for that gold-furred man! THIS CAN'T BE!!!"

I tried to interject, but she put her paws to her ears and broke down crying. I didn't even know that balloons _could_ cry, but judging from the latex-smelling tears that were leaking from her eyes, I was clearly mistaken.

Krystal was beside herself with grief. She tried pulling her tail, poking her thigh with her claws and even tried biting her own arm to put an end to her all-too-real reality, but I knew by now that Balloonies couldn't pop themselves without help, so it was all in vain. She eventually dropped down to her paws and knees and tried pounding the floor and slapping her face to wake herself up, all the while weeping freely, but this reality was final. She was a balloon and she would soon realize that there was nothing that she could do about it.

The four of us looked around at each other, unsure of what to do. They had all accepted the fact that they were made of rubber, but they had never faced a balloon that had once been a fleshie, so we didn't know how to approach this.

_Krystal? Please look at me._

From out of nowhere, Lugia had reappeared so suddenly that even Krystal was surprised to see him. She paused in her hissy fit to look up at the silver-white god standing before her. And from the serene look on her face, I didn't doubt that she thought he _was_ a god.

Lugia sank to one knee and placed his hand on her cheek. _Krystal, please come with me. I will explain everything to you._ And as he helped the trembling vulpine to her feet, he held a finger to his beak and shook his head. _Please excuse us. We will return._

Then with a flash of blue light that engulfed the both of them, Lugia and Krystal vanished from the apartment without a trace, leaving me, Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi standing there in disbelief.

"What just happened?" said Tails, not believing what he had just witnessed.

"I dunno," I added. "I didn't even know Lugia _could_ learn Teleport."

"I think he's taken her on a little tour of our world," said Blaziken, shaking his head. "She'll be just fine."

"Yeah. Lugia know just what to do for all of us." Yoshi nodded as he sat down to return to his game. "If I know him, he's giving her a small crash course in her new life."

We couldn't argue with that, so we went back to our lives as they had been before Krystal had been inflated. Yoshi returned to his game, Tails lied back on the couch to tend to his aching belly and Blaziken went to the kitchen to grab some of the leftovers of their party.

Lugia and Krystal didn't return for well over an hour. It was confirmed that he had learned Teleport when he and Krystal reappeared in the dining room. Krystal had calmed down and seemed to have accepted her situation. And the first thing she did to show that she understood was come over to me and placed a small, rubbery kiss on my cheek.

"Thank you for bringing me back to life, Alex. I'm sure that life as a balloon won't be as bad as I first thought."

I could not believe that I had just scored a perk from the famous Krystal! I held a hand up to my cheek and looked at her as she smiled and walked into the kitchen with Lugia, who was preparing her first rubberized meal.

A few minutes passed while Tails and Yoshi played Super Smash Bros. Melee while Blaziken and I watched, although I was more interested in Krystal, who was eating a rubberized bologna sandwich at the table. I wondered if she had gotten her Telepathic powers back, but suddenly flinched when Krystal looked right at me and smirked. I guess that answers _that_ question.

I looked away while Krystal continued eating. I couldn't help but blush when I heard her chuckle to herself. I had never been in the presence of a woman like this before, so I was a little dry when it came to talking to women. Not even fox himself could hold his own when talking directly to Krystal since he had never saved a "damsel in distress" before. She was one of if not _the_ most beautiful women I had ever seen, both real or balloon, so this was a little difficult for me to get the courage to say the right thing.

I had no idea that Krystal was listening in on every thought I was thinking, allowing her to think me over before approaching me. She knew that I had every right to think the way I was; the only thing was that she had never had a man fall for her like I did before. So while she listened in on my thoughts, she was mentally preparing on how she was going to live in her new life.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I got up at the same time that Krystal did and the two of us approached each other. Tails, Blaziken and Yoshi took the opportunity to listen in on our conversation.

"Um... Krystal?" I said, nearly losing my tongue.

"Yes?" she said sweetly, waiting patiently for my answer.

I swallowed and could have sworn that I had started sweating. I had never asked this before to any woman, balloon or otherwise. Krystal didn't mind, though. She simply smiled and waited for me to answer. I had a feeling that she already knew what I was going to ask, but she wanted to let me say it for myself.

I took a deep breath and let it out. I must have looked so stupid standing here, sucking up the courage to ask her something important. "Krystal... Would you like to... go on... (indistinct)?"

Krystal looked confused. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

Accessing a hidden reserve of courage, I spat it out. "Would-you-like-to-go-on-a-date-with-me?!" Damn it! I said it too fast!

But she seemed to catch on. "A date? I've never been on one of those before. Is it any fun?"

I froze. Krystal didn't even know what a date was? I must feel like the world's biggest dork. To save my hash, Lugia stepped in and placed his hand on Krystal's shoulder.

_He would like to take you out to a movie tonight, Krystal. He's buying everything for you._

I didn't care if Krystal heard me. I thought as hard as I could, "Thank you, Lugia! Thank you so much!"

"A movie... I don't think I've been to one of those before. It sounds like fun." She then looked at me square in the eye. "Okay, Alex. We can go on a date tonight. When does the "movie" start?"

I looked at the clock and did the calculations in my head. "The previews start at 4:30. The theater is just across the road in the mall. I think we can leave at around 4:00. What do you say?"

Krystal nodded. "It's a date, then. I just wish..." She looked over her body uncertainly. "... I was a little more decent, what with this balloon body and attire and all."

Lugia smiled. _I can take care of that, dear. I need your permission, though._

Krystal nodded and turned to look at him. "Do whatever you have to; I won't mind."

Lugia nodded and looked her square in the eyes, his own glowing a bright and narrow blue. Krystal was surrounded by a thin blue aura that was mostly visible despite her matching body. She then closed her eyes as if being put into a sedated sleep. And then with a flick of his wings, Lugia detonated her, causing a massive BOOOOM!!! that nearly caused me to fall over and causing the others to drift into the air.

When I had recovered, I looked from Lugia to Krystal's pieces and back again with utter shock on my face. "What did you do to her?!" I said in disbelief. "I thought you were going to help her get ready, not POP her!"

Lugia furled his wings again and squatted down to pick up her blue-and-white pieces. Without saying a word, he collected them all and then stood up for a moment before tossing them into the air and snapping them up like a hungry dragon.

I could not believe what he had just done! "Lugia! What are you doing?! You can't _eat_ her! She just got here! You guys made a promise that you wouldn't eat each other OR me!"

Without bothering to chew, Lugia swallowed Krystal's pieces whole and gave me his explanation. _I am not going to digest her, Alex. I am simply using her pieces and chemical makeup to give her a set of clothes that she will most likely be using from now on. You should be thanking me as well, because I'm sacrificing some of my body's thickness to make her completely opaque so that she won't look out of place at the theater._

I wasn't quite sure what that meant, but I realized that I had to trust Lugia. He obviously knew what he was doing, so I couldn't argue with his logic. Besides, other than the little mishap with me a few days earlier, I doubted that he would _intentionally_ hurt someone, even a fellow Synthetic.

So while the four of us watched, Lugia began to work some balloon magic. We could see Krystal's juices being mixed around inside his stomach, which was becoming significantly easier to see from him sacrificing some of his skin thickness to give to her. I wondered how Lugia could make THAT much goo with the little bits and pieces of Krystal that he had eaten. But he simply rubbed his stomach for a moment before bouncing on his toes to agitate the mixture. All the while, he had a look of deep concentration on his face mixed in with a slightly dizzy look. It must have been hard for him to give up his own body resistance to allow Krystal and me to go on a "normal" date.

Finally, when Lugia's body had nearly returned to the clearness when I had first gotten him, he spread his arms and wings and told us to stand back. Tails, Blaziken, Yoshi and I all piled on the same couch with me on the bottom and their cushiony bodies on top of me. Lugia then took a deep breath and we could see Krystal's juices starting to move up his throat and into his mouth. It looked like he was going to throw her up from the amount of slime in there, but on the contrary, he simply swished the goo around in his mouth, coating his tongue with the thick liquid. He then began to blow.

At first, it looked like he was blowing a bubble of blue-raspberry bubble gum. But soon enough, it had grown well past even the best bubble blower's record. It grew larger and larger, causing my friends to squish closer together on me to give him some room (I didn't mind at all). Just when it looked like we were going to run out of room in this tiny living room, Lugia bit down on the end of the bubble, did a little motion with his tongue and then bit down again, severing his connection to the bubble and causing it to float freely in the confined space.

But he wasn't quite done yet. Next, he took a deep breath and expelled another gentle stream of blue Dragonbreath. The magical breath surrounded Krystal's bubble and started to turn it opaque enough that we couldn't see through it anymore. Then his eyes began to glow again as a different blue aura surrounded the bubble and started to mold it on its own. Not one ounce of air was lost as it began to take the form of Krystal again, but this time with a distinct difference. It now took the form that Krystal had used in Starfox Assault. Her body was now covered with a skin-tight blue-and-black battle suit that covered every inch over her body except for her hands, where a couple of straps kept the suit on her arms, her tail, which had been allowed to flow free except for two "metal" bands around it like a "ponytail" (Get it?! Oy...) and her head, where her tiara was changed into a green gem instead of a red one and a few locks of dyed, aqua hair and chains.

Once Krystal was fully reformed, Lugia gave two small puffs of smoke. But unlike regular smoke, these puffs looked like little glowing blue flames. They then drifted into her muzzle and into her body. When it was all said and done, Krystal opened her eyes and then touched down on the floor as Lugia released her.

Tails, Blaziken, Yoshi and I were impressed beyond all belief and could think of no better way to express ourselves that to applaud Lugia's efforts. He simply grinned and bowed low, saying, "Thank you. It was nothing I couldn't handle."

Krystal, meanwhile, looked a little dizzy from her trip. She wobbled on the spot and nearly fell over before I broke clear of the others to catch her. I noticed that her body now felt almost as real as it should have felt. Because she now had 100 opacity, her "fur" actually _felt_ like fur now. I could feel her natural boy heat radiating through her lifelike battle suit. Her tail was thick and bushy and her body felt just like I had always dreamed it would.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, setting aside my awe to check on her.

"I... I think so," Krystal replied, still a little unstable as I helped her to her feet. "I feel slightly different now. It's almost like I'm back in my old body."

_It's no surprise,_ said Lugia, sitting down to recuperate. _I sacrificed some of my body thickness to make yours 100 solid. You are now officially a Bio-Balloon._

"Bio-what?" said Tails, hopping down off the couch. "You lost me."

_Bio-Balloon,_ Lugia explained. _It's the term we balloons use when we have consumed enough latex to make our bodies 100 puncture-proof. As a Bio-Balloon, we have the ability to eat human food along with regular latex and our bodies feel exactly like they should if we were real. It's kind of like a promotion for Balloonies._

But Blaziken was still suspicious. "What's the catch?"

Lugia smiled and shook his head sadly. _The catch is that only your outside is completely real. On the inside, our Synthetic properties still remain. Our blood, flesh and organs are still made of air and liquid latex. We still have to have some kind of latex diet if we are to survive as well._

Yoshi, however, was optimistic. "But on the plus side, at least we can feel like a real creature."

Lugia nodded. _Exactly. Hence the name "Bio-Balloon"._

Tails was suddenly super-excited. "I ate a lot of rubber food last night! Could I become a Bio-Balloon?"

Lugia looked at Tails' stomach, which was still a little bloated from eating an entire Yoshi egg. _I don't think you're far behind, but you need to have all of that digested before you fully become one._

But Tails didn't seem to mind. "I don't care how long I have to wait! Being a Bio-Balloon beats being covered in cooking spray any day!"

As Lugia began to tell the others about what it was going to be like as a Bio-Balloon, Krystal lifted her head up and whispered in my ear. "I feel better than ever. What do you say we go for a day out on the town?"

I couldn't argue with that since she had asked me first, so while the others carried on, Krystal and I snuck out of the apartment to do a little sight-seeing.

Since I didn't own a car, Krystal and I had to hoof it to the mall across the street. All the while, we got some pretty curious looks from other motorists as we made our way to the mall. We even got one or two honks from others when they saw Krystal's exquisite form. Krystal, however, ignored them. She knew that she had that kind of effect on people, so she was too used to it to let it bother her. All the while, she walked with me, gently holding my hand as we reached the front doors of the mall.

Apparently, when Krystal had been on Cerinia and Sauria in her old life, she hadn't seen the kind of technology she now saw almost everywhere. She took interest in almost everything she saw. She liked the various vending machine that you put a quarter in and turned to receive a prize or a sweet of some kind. She also tried to take one of the little wooden baby carts but came up short when it wouldn't come out of the block.

"You have to put money in those to borrow them," I told her as she tried and failed to get it out.

"Oh. It's a very ingenious device. Even for a primitive planet like this, the mechanics are amazing."

I knew she didn't mean to insult me or the rest of the human race, and I didn't take it that way. She was new here, so she had every right to compare us to her old lifestyle.

As we walked on, Krystal suddenly stopped and began sniffing the air. She was immediately drawn to the Bath and Body Works shop nearby to sample the various scents overflowing her senses. I had never taken interest in the place, but I followed her anyway. While we were there, Krystal would pick up a candle, smell it and then put it back, commenting on the scent.

"I never knew that wax could hold a scent like this. And all of this soap is simply amazing! I've never dreamed soap could smell this good."

I was glad she was enjoying herself. As long as she was happy, I was happy, even though some of the people were looking at her like she was a wild animal. They weren't sure whether to let her be or kick her out. They obviously hadn't seen a blue fox walking around on two legs or in an outfit like hers before, so they didn't quite know how to approach her or me. The fact that she was talking to me only further confounded them.

It was about an hour until the movie started, so we continued to walk around the mall, pausing every so often for Krystal to examine something new. She took particular interest in the local K-Mart where there was an assortment of technology she had never seen before. I doubted that it could compare to what she was used to, but judging from her expressions, it was close enough. Now that I thought about it, the technology in the Starfox games easily outdid what Krystal was used to and far outclassed anything we humans were capable of. Thankfully, this thought escaped Krystal's detection and we continued on.

While we were in a mattress store trying out all of the different beds, a shady-looking person spotted us from across the store. He was wearing a heavy hooded coat that concealed most of his noticeable features. If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed that he stood on his toes digitigrade-like just like Lugia but not like Krystal's plantigrade stance. His feet, though, did not have any shoes on them but were covered by a thick, black, full-body suit.

The man saw us and suddenly became interested in our movements. While we were sampling the different mattresses, he waited in a corner of the store where he could keep an eye on us. And when we left the store, he wasn't far behind us. He seemed to take particular interest in Krystal and almost never took his eyes off of her.

We were completely unaware of his presence as we headed for the bookstore on the other end of the mall. Even Krystal was unable to pick up on his thoughts while he tailed behind us. When we got to the bookstore, he hid out in the crafts store across the way where he could keep an eye on us.

When we went to the EB Games outlet – my all-time favorite store – one of the employees immediately recognized Krystal and came out from behind the counter to talk to her.

"Are you really Krystal from the Starfox games?" He asked her politely.

Krystal looked at me for a moment and I nodded before she turned back and nodded as well. "I am. I'm here with my friend here to browse the mall before our movie starts."

The employee gulped. He had never in his wildest dreams expected the real-life Krystal to come walking in his store. He was obviously a big fan of hers and wanted to get her autograph. He went back behind the counter and grabbed a notebook and a digital camera.

"May I have your autograph and a picture?"

We were the only ones in here at the moment, so I didn't see why she couldn't. I sent my reply to her and she took the pen and paper from him. She scribbled a little note that read, "Grab life by the tail and hold on – Krystal" and on the end was a little doodle of a heart that she filled in with the blue-ink pen. She then traded the notebook and pen for the man's digital camera. She handed it to me and whispered in my ear.

"Try to get my good side, love."

It was my turn to blush. She had used the word "love" as a name to call me. To be called that by the girl of your dreams was without a doubt the best few seconds of my life. I smiled and stepped back while Krystal and the man posed in front of the counter for me to take the shot.

But just before I took the picture, Krystal wanted to make an impression and kissed him on the cheek just as the shot flashed. The man's expression was priceless. He had just gotten kissed by his dream girl and he now had it on film! I wasn't worried, though. Krystal had just been posing. Her kiss was genuine, but she knew that I would always be hers.

From across the hallway, the hooded man smirked to himself. Meanwhile, Krystal had left a small remainder of blue lipstick on the man's cheek as the two of us left EB Games. Like Tails had done only a week earlier, Krystal had made her mark on the world by giving someone their video game fantasy come to life, even if only for a few minutes. We left the man looking lovestruck as we headed back to the main entrance where the theater was built. As soon as we bought our tickets, the man who had been following us worked the lock to the one-way exit door around the corner and slipped in completely undetected. Krystal and I were going to go see Rush Hour 3 for the first time, so as soon as we disappeared into the theater, he waited until the room went dark during the previews and slipped into a seat near us.

As Krystal and I watched the movie, we were unaware that he was even there. We were enjoying ourselves too much to notice much else besides the movie. While I took a sip of the Hi-C that I had bought, I suddenly felt rather ill. It was like the soft drink had agitated something in my system that had been lying dormant. I didn't understand; I had had this drink countless times before. Why was I feeling sick _now?_

Krystal picked up on my thoughts and turned to see me hunched over in my seat, gasping for breath. "Alex? Is something wrong?"

I groaned and did my best to answer her. "I don't feel so hot. I feel like my insides are being soaked in acid. It really hurts!"

I was so sick that I couldn't get out of my seat to go to the bathroom. Krystal had given up on the movie and was trying everything she could to help me through this. While I was trying to catch my breath, the man who had been following us looked down from his seat and raised an eyebrow. I didn't know it, but he recognized the symptoms of what was happening to me and got out of his seat to come check on us.

I was literally sweating in my own skin. It felt like my flesh was on fire and all of my strength had vanished. I became increasingly weaker until I eventually fainted slumped over in my seat.

"Alex?" Krystal said, trying to keep her voice down. "Alex? Can you hear me?"

No answer. He was out cold. She grew concerned. She could possibly be able to tell what was wrong with him, but in a dark theater, there was only so much that she could do. In fact, she didn't know _what_ to do as Alex lay dying in his seat. She was starting to panic. He probably weight double what she now did; how on earth could she carry him out of the theater and back to his house?

Just then, the man that had been following them this whole time stopped next to Alex and Krystal's seat and leaned over to talk to her.

"I know what's wrong with him."

"Huh?" She was surprised that he had been paying attention.

"Help me carry him out of the building and I'll tell you more."

Krystal had no idea who this man was, but if he knew what was wrong with Alex, then she had to trust him. Taking care so as to not make any more noise, she shouldered part of Alex's weight and they shared the load between them before carrying the unconscious human out of the theater.

They continued to carry Alex's limp form until they were out in the fresh air outside the theater. The man and Krystal gently lowered Alex onto the sidewalk where he placed his hand on his throat as if taking his pulse.

The news was not good. "He has Latex Poisoning. Somehow, pure, undiluted Synthetic liquid got inside his system and now it's tearing his body apart from the inside-out."

Krystal looked at him in awe. "How do you know that?"

The man shook his head. "I've seen this happen before. Normally, he should have been turned to latex long ago, but the amount of liquid in his system must have been so small that it has just recently revealed itself. I'm sorry to say that it's too late to save him."

Krystal looked shocked. "But... how could this happen? He was just fine this morning and while we were in the mall. What brought it out all of a sudden?"

The man sighed. "The amount of liquid inside him has been spreading throughout his body over the past few days. Normally, this would have been evident right away and he could be saved, but in this case, the amount was so small that it damaged his system too heavily before it was detected. It's too late for him now, but he can still live life as a Synthetic."

By now, Krystal wanted answers to just who this man was and how he knew all of this. She stood up straight and confronted him.

"I'm not going to let you touch him until you tell me who you are! He's _my_ owner and I am responsible for him. Now, who are you?!"

The man realized that he had no choice this time. He stood up and pulled off his cloak. Underneath the covering was the lean, fit form of a full-grown male Anthro Red Fox. He was about Krystal's size, and like her, most of his body was covered in a thick, full-body battle suit, except that his was colored black and had more "parts" to it that gave it a rugged look instead of a smooth one like Krystal's did. He also had five digits on his paws, but they were also concealed by his suit. Out of his backside grew a large, bushy, flame-colored tail with a white tip on the end. His head was fox-like in appearance as well, from his furry, whiskered muzzle to his fierce golden eyes to the pair of pointed ears on top of his head.

At the anthro's side was a large, black, lethal-looking blaster rifle in a holster around his thigh. Krystal was alarmed that he was armed, but he noticed her gaze and chuckled

"Don't worry about this. This isn't for killing or even inflicting pain on anyone. I use it to wipe the memories of anyone I've done business with in order to keep a low profile."

Krystal couldn't argue with that, so she let it be. She was, however, still trying to figure out why she hadn't heard this creature's mind while they had been inside the mall.

When she told him this, the fox shook his head. "I've trained myself to be all but undetectable by even Telepaths. I doubt that even your friend, Lugia could hear _my_ thoughts.

"Wait... how do you know about Lugia?"

The fox shrugged. "I know about all of you. From Blaziken to Yoshi to Tails and even the ones you are going to meet next." When Krystal continued to look amazed, the fox finally spilled it. "Maybe if I told you my name, it would make more sense to you."

"Then what IS your name?"

The fox looked at Krystal and bowed nobly to her. "My name is Vega Firetail. I am Karmen Aridos' former apprentice."

Even though Krystal hadn't ever heard of Vega in her former life, she instinctively knew who this was. "I've heard of you somewhere. You're that Anthro Fox that Aridos had been teaching before you fell in a cauldron of Anthro Serum. There isn't a Synthetic alive that hasn't heard of you."

Vega grinned and rubbed his paw against his chest. "I guess the rumor about my little "accident" gets around, especially with Synthetics such as yourself."

Krystal balked. "How did you know I was a Synthetic?"

Vega tapped a digit to the side of his nose. "You forget; I know everything that's been going on with you."

A moan from Alex brought Krystal's attention back to him. "What can we do for him? If he's turning to latex, we can't have him doing it where everyone can see him."

Vega sighed and kneeled next to him. "His conversion in inevitable, but I _can_ give him a week to _choose_ his new form. After that, there's nothing that I can do for him."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Vega looked up at her for a moment before pulling out a large syringe that he had somehow been carrying around for some time. Krystal became defensive.

"Hey! You can't do that to him! I don't even know what's in there!"

"Relax. This is a Synthetic version of adrenaline mixed with some of my trademark Anthro Serum. I inject this straight into his heart and it will keep the liquid in his system from turning him into latex soup for a good week. It should be just enough time for him to chose who he wants to become. But unfortunately, whoever he chooses has to be the one to convert him."

Krystal looked uneasy. "Are you sure it's the only way?" Vega nodded. She sighed and looked off in the direction of Alex's apartment. "I wish I could talk to Lugia about this, but if it's the only way, then go for it."

Vega sighed and pulled up his shirt to reveal his bare chest. "He's going to feel this, so don't panic. He'll be just fine afterwards."

Krystal gulped and held her breath as Vega plunged the syringe directly into Alex's heart. Alex gasped and opened his eyes, causing her to whimper slightly, but once the liquid was fully inside him, he went back to sleep. Vega then pulled the needle out of his chest and pressed a digit to the wound to prevent it from bleeding.

"He'll be awake tomorrow night just as his next balloon arrives. He'll also understand everything that has happened to him, but as for who he chooses to become a counterpart to, that's up to him. Keep in mind that he has just seven days after he wakes up to chose who he wants to be converted to and that whoever picks must also be willing to change him when the time comes."

Krystal felt uneasy for making this decision behind Lugia's back, but she knew that he would understand. Now there was just one more thing.'

"How is he supposed to get back home from here?"

To answer this, Vega pulled out what looked like a silent dog whistle. It even sounded like a dog whistle (Krystal _could_ hear it, though), but the result wasn't the same as a dog whistle. In fact, nothing happened right away. Vega simply pocketed the whistle and put his cloak back on.

"I must be going. I'll keep an eye on you for a while. But remember, if Aridos asks, you never met me in either of your lives." Krystal placed two fingers to her muzzle and pulled them across her lips, signaling that she wouldn't say a thing. "Good. I really didn't want to have to use this on such a pretty face." He patted the blaster rifle at his side and Krystal gulped. Then with a swish of his cloak, Vega started walking down the sidewalk before he seemed to disappear into thin air.

Still trying to make heads or tails of what had just happened, Krystal waited for the effects of Vega's "whistle" to happen. But soon enough, her answer came. She suddenly looked up in the sky and saw Lugia diving with his wings at his side to land next to her. As soon as he did, she stood up to try and explain what had happened.

But Lugia simply shook his head and picked Alex up in his arms. _Don't say anything. I know. We all know. Just climb on._

Krystal obliged and climbed on Lugia's back in-between his wings and all three of them took off back to Alex's apartment.

There was some confusion the next day as to how Alex had suddenly come down with Latex Poisoning. No one could remember housing Alex inside them long enough for their latex body fluid to affect him. They had made absolutely sure to keep him separate from the parts of them that could harm him, so it was difficult to come to a conclusion about this.

But Yoshi had a pretty good idea what had happened. When he had briefly encased Alex in his egg, nearly liquefying him in the process, he must have swallowed a small amount of the liquid in his egg before he had been freed. When he realized this and voiced his opinion, Yoshi felt even worse about the whole ordeal than he had earlier felt. He could hardly believe that he had "killed" Alex even after they had done so much to save him from his previous mishap. He felt so miserable that he ran to the kitchen to grab the biggest knife he could and pop himself to put an end to his torment.

But before he could, the rest of them ran after him and wrestled him to the ground and pried the knife away from him.

"It's not worth it, Yoshi!" said Blaziken as he grabbed the handle and wrenched it from Yoshi's grip. "You have so much to live for!"

"No!" yelled Yoshi, who had broken down to tears and was struggling to free himself. "It's not fair! I didn't want this to happen! I killed him! I actually killed him! Let me go!"

But the rest of them managed to pin Yoshi to the floor and calm him down. Since Krystal was a Bio-Balloon, she weighed the heaviest and was able to keep Yoshi from hurting himself any more.

"That's not true! You guys should all look at the positives of this ordeal!"

Everyone except Lugia paused in their fight to stare at Krystal like she had just said a bad word. "How on earth do you figure that?" said Tails in outrage. "The way things are going, Alex is doomed to become a puddle in just under a week!"

But Krystal was the only one that had understood everything Vega had said. "Are you all forgetting that Alex is going to _choose_ which one of us he wants to counterpart with? They way I see it, once he chooses one of us or one of the balloons that are still coming, we'll all be the same." When they still looked uncertain, she explained. "Think of it this way – once Alex is a balloon, we don't have to worry about any rules regarding humans flesh and latex. We could all live as one giant balloon family for as long as he wants us to. We'll all be equals and sometime down the road when we all become Bio-Balloons, Alex can finally live out his dream of having every one of us in his family. Plus, he'll be one of us as well. How do you think he'll react when he finally becomes a creature he's always wanted to become?"

There was a brief uncomfortable silence as everyone turned to get Lugia's opinion. Lugia, however, seemed to have expected this. He nodded and gestured to Krystal. _She's absolutely correct. The way I see it, this will be Alex's greatest dream come true. He'll be one of us and we'll all be one great big balloon family. And if I know Alex, he's going to love every minute of it._

Now that they had heard it from Lugia, they all knew what was going to happen. In just under a week, they were all going to be a great bunch of happy balloons. And what was more, one of them was going to have the honor of converting him into their own counterpart. It _was_ a dream come true.

Now the only question was: who was he going to choose? Was it going to be one of them or one of the balloons that was yet to arrive? There were three of them left and any one of them were worthy candidates of his selection. All they could do was wait and hope that he chose one of them.

**Chapter 7: Flammie and Glory**

After everything that happened after my sudden collapse in the movie theater, you would think that I wouldn't have a clue as to what had happened to me while I was out. But somehow, someway, I knew exactly what had happened to me. It had all come to me after I had been jolted awake by a sudden pain in my chest. I understood my situation, my dilemma and my destiny. I was going to be reduced to a latex soup in exactly one week, but I could change my future if and when I chose one of my balloon friends to be converted into a counterpart version of them. It was a dream come true in a way.

Now that I understood what was going to happen to me, I figured I might as well make the best of my last week as a human with my friends. I looked at the clock to see that it was almost 6:00 PM. Boy, was I out! According to Aridos' last letter, I was to get my next balloon sometime very shortly. I guess I'd better get ready for it.

I walked out to the living room and was immediately bowled over by a mass of fur and fabric. The neck thing I knew, I was on the floor being covered by kisses and a wailing voice.

"Oh, Alex! I'm so glad you're all right! You were out for so long that I thought you would never wake up. I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. I can't tell you how sorry I am!"

I finally managed to get a word in edgewise. "It's okay, Krystal! You couldn't do anything. Stop beating yourself up over this!"

Finally, the others were able to get Krystal off of me so I could get up. Yoshi helped me get to my feet and gave me a hug as well but not as hard as Krystal had.

"I know that this was all _my_ fault, Alex. I knew that my egg did more damage to you than I thought. I'm sorry that this happened, but I hope you forgive me."

I wasn't one to hold a grudge, so I patted Yoshi on the saddle and said, "Don't worry about it, Yoshi. It's something that can't be helped now. At least we'll all be on the same page when this is all over."

"Yeah... I guess." He still didn't sound entirely convinced, but he accepted it and went on with his life.

As I looked around the living room, I saw that one of them looked much different than he once did. "Tails? You're a Bio-Balloon?"

Tails smiled and ran a gloved hand through his rippling new fur. It seemed that he had finally digested that Yoshi egg that he had eaten at the party and was now 100 puncture-proof. His coat looked so real and convincing that you couldn't even tell that he was still a balloon internally. He even motioned for me to come closer so I could get a feel for it.

"It's as real as it's gonna get. Wanna feel?"

I shrugged and accepted his offer. I stepped forward and placed my hand on his chest, feeling the soft, warm fur between my fingers. It was really something for both of us to feel each other properly for the first time. Tails closed his eyes and smiled as I gave him a modified massage and I rubbed my hand all around his body, feeling every strand of fur that I could, down to his bushy, furry tails.

When I was all done, Tails looked like he had just been given a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "That felt so good. I never knew having real fur would be so enjoyable. The sensation of being stroked like that was unlike anything I ever experienced as a regular balloon."

"Well, now you know," I said, sitting down next to Blaziken on the couch. "I'm glad I could help."

It was Blaziken's turn to be jealous. "I can't _wait_ until I become a Bio-Balloon! It sounds so cool to feel everything around you like that. Not like this bouncy body." He grabbed a pinch of his rubbery side and watched it snap back into place.

Lugia smiled and shook his head. "One of these days, you'll have that privilege. You'll just have to keep up your training."

Just then, the doorbell rang again. Ignoring the fact that I _had_ no doorbell, I went over to the front door and immediately looked down at my next arrival. Sure enough, there was another box from Plushtopia that had been delivered by Aridos. Wondering who it could be this time, I carried it into the living room and set it down on the floor. Tails, Lugia, Blaziken, Yoshi and Krystal all gathered around me to see the unveiling of their new arrival. There were just two more balloons to go and I would soon have the entire set. I just hoped that they both arrived in time for me to choose which one of them I wanted to become a counterpart to.

Inside the package were the usual contents: a bottle of balloon food, the package containing said balloon and a note from Aridos. Like always, I went straight to the letter to see what he had to say to me. While the others listened intently, I read the letter out loud for them to hear.

"Dear Mr. Schaefer,

It is with deep regret that the events that played out over the past few days have condemned you to choose which Synthetic you must pair with to survive. I never expected this to happen and you have my deepest apologies that this had to happen before you were ready for it. I just wish that I knew how you were able to buy yourself more time until the end of the week. I could not find anyone in the vicinity apart from myself that could perform such an operation on you without being noticed."

"It sounds like Aridos still doesn't know about Vega," said Krystal.

"He's really a sneaky guy once you think about it," added Tails.

I shrugged. "Maybe he knows how to literally make himself disappear without being seen."

Krystal shrugged. She had been the only one to see Vega actually disappear, but she wasn't going to tell me anytime soon. I continued to read Aridos' note out loud.

"As for your next Synthetic, I did some heavy-duty research on this one and have come to the conclusion that this is no ordinary balloon. In fact, it's not even a balloon at all. When I put this one into stock, I realized that it was actually made of _plastic. _Unlike your balloon friends, this one is much more durable and has some slight Bio-Synthetic properties right off the bat. Its skin is much thicker and it has a coat of unusual "plastic fur and feathers".

The method for inflating this Synthetic is slightly different than what you've normally been doing. Instead of blowing air through its mouth, you must locate a small plastic stopper on the back of its neck and inflate it from there.

As for what it eats, I have included a special brew of Synthetic food that must be used separate from the others due to the properties that turn said food into plastic instead of rubber. But other than that, there is not much else to worry about.

I can guarantee that the next time I send you a Synthetic that it will be back to being composed of latex. Until then, have fun!

Until next time,

Karmen Aridos"

All of us were trying to figure out what Aridos had just told us. Why was _this._ one made out of _plastic?_ What had been so special about it that it was different than the rest of them? It sounded suspicious that a plastic Synthetic would be included in a series of rubber ones.

"I don't think we should worry about it," suggested Yoshi. "As long as it's part of the family, I don't think we should hold it against it."

"Speaking of "it"," said Blaziken, taking the package in his paws. "What is "it", anyway?" They all looked at the package in Blaziken's arms and then at me.

"What?" I said, looking uncomfortably at their smirks.

"I think you're going to have some competition between you and Krystal," said Tails smugly.

"What?" I said again.

"I'm jealous," added Krystal. "The only other female in the series and she had to rival me in looks."

I frowned at them. "Give that to me. What are you talking about?" I snatched the package from Blaziken, ignoring his and Tails' sniggers and Krystal's envious look.

The package label was a little different from the others' ones when they had arrived. The label read. "Inflate-a-Flammie" and showed a picture of a white-furred, four-winged beast.

Immediately, I knew who this was. This was Flammie from the "World of Mana" video game series. I had played pretty much every game that he had starred in and it was in the most recent game, "Dawn of Mana" that Flammie had looked his absolute best.

But wait... I thought Flammie was male. According to them, this one was sexually opposite. This was somewhat true with the real Flammie. In his earlier appearances, he had been a she, but in Children and Dawn of Mana, she had been a he. Just from looking at the package, it was hard for me to tell which one it was. Was this Flammie a male or a female?

Figuring I was going to find out, I slit open the package and tipped the deflated mass into my hand. Sure enough, it felt much sleeker and smoother than rubber. The material was thicker and tougher than the others when they had been in this state, but the mass of white and orange felt much softer than a deflated balloon. It was plastic, all right.

While I searched for the alleged stopper to inflate said Synthetic, Krystal took the remains of the package and scanned it for anything I might have overlooked. Within a few seconds, she found something.

"It looked like this Flammie comes with her own name."

I paused and looked at her. "It does? What is it?"

Krystal looked over the name and then passed it to Yoshi, who in turn handed it to Blaziken after looking it over. "Her name is Seryn."

""Seryn"?" The name sounded vaguely familiar. "Where have I heard that name before?"

After some thought, it came to me. While I had been going through a phase of my life on the Internet, I had been reading an adult-content story called "Interrogation of the Species". The furry that had seduced and converted the main character had been called "Seryn". It was a strange name, but then again, she had been an alien from a distant galaxy. I don't know why this bothered me, but I didn't trust the name "Seryn" for some reason. It was probably because of the characters reputation from the story I had read.

Regardless, I finally located the plastic stopper on the back of "Seryn's" neck and pulled it out. It was just like a plug on a beach ball that you needed to blow air into to inflate. Taking the open stopper in my mouth, I motioned to the others to give me some room. I had no idea how big this was going to get since the real Flammie had been longer than a house.

Once they had cleared out into the dining room, I started to blow. Amazingly, it took just under 15 good breaths to inflate said Synthetic, resulting in a six-foot-tall toy Flammie with about two feet of tail. Plugging and pushing the stopper back into its neck, I turned Seryn around and the six of us looked at our new friend with interest.

Seryn matched every detail of Flammie to a "T". Her body was roughly bear-like, along with her broad, heavy paws. Her footpaws each had three thick, furry digits with each one ending with a long, thick, brown talon on the ends. Underneath her paws, thick, heavy pink pads made her footpaws appear more animal-like than anything else. Her forepaws, though, had four digits and matching pads and talons with the fourth digit at the side like a human's opposable thumb.

Most of the rest of her body was covered in a thick, glossy coat of unusual "plastic fur". She wasn't even a Bio-Synthetic and yet I could feel her smooth, rippling fur like a coat of "dry water". It was like touching water but slightly better and without the wet feeling that water contained. And from under her throat all the way down her front and to the tip of her thick, furry tail was a series of orange, rugged "plates" that made her look like she was wearing body armor all down her front.

Seryn's wings were everything I had ever dreamed of and more. Instead of being just simple flat pieces of plastic like most winged plastic toys had, every one of her four wings were filled with air from my lungs, giving them a full, plump look that made it seem like I was looking at the real thing. They had a fine, silky feel to them as if they were made up of real feathers, the tips of which were colored a mix of blue and green like the real Flammie.

Seryn's head and face was what made her so adorable in all of the games that I had seen "her" in. She had a short, curved, beak-like muzzle with a single pointed white fang sticking up out of each side of the roof of her mouth. She had a pair of pointed, deer-like ears with the tips being colored blue and green as well. On top of her head was a thick, matted mane of goldenrod-yellow hair that looked much more vibrant than it had on Dawn of Mana.

But her eyes were still the most amazing thing about her. In her early years, Flammie's eyes had been normal-shaped and were a pale baby-blue with a black pupil in the middle of each one. But ever since I saw her in a short cutscene in Children of Mana and got the best look after the Wyvern battle in Dawn of Mana, Flammie's eyes nearly took my breath away. There was very little white in them anymore, but that was not a problem. The mere sight of her wide, round, beautiful, baby-blue eyes made it look like two small stars were glittering in her skull. They seemed to pull you into their infinite power and beauty that to add pupils to them would forever tarnish their wonder. They glittered brightly whenever Flammie made eye contact with you, making her both adorable and amazing at the same time. I knew that I would _never_ get tired of looking at those wonderful eyes. I was just glad that Aridos had used _this_ version of Flammie instead of the old-fashioned one.

After I had had some time to look at Seryn's amazing features, I got a grip on myself and got ready to say the magic words. The others watched as I prepared to bring another one of them to life. I took a deep breath and looked squarely at Seryn, preparing to shout life into her body.

"Unubo! Calo! Rhouxo!" Krystal's ears perked up at the sound of these words as they began to take effect.

Seryn's eyes seemed to gain that distinct sparkle that I had seen in Dawn of Mana as she took her first breath as a Synthetic. Like the others, she was a little dizzy from being brought to life and ended up tripping over her feet and plopping down on the couch with a small squeal. I guess it must have been a little hard for a quadruped like Flammie to immediately stand on two legs in her new life. She furled all of her wings and tried to get a lock on her new life.

Those beautiful orbs looked around my living room as she cooed to herself. She seemed to like what she saw but looked even more impressed when she saw me. She looked up at me with a smile across her muzzle and she tried to pick herself up off the couch. But since she was still inexperienced on two legs, she wobbled on the spot and fell onto my chest, where I caught her and she looked up at me.

The sparkle in those eyes of her was indescribable. Let's just say that pure beauty and power radiated in them better than any of the others' did. She smiled and gave my cheek a little lick with her smooth, plastic tongue.

"Hello, Alex," she said in a sweet, melodic voice. "Thank you for bringing me to life."

"Uh..." This was new. Not once had Flammie ever spoken a word in human tongue. This must have been a bonus that Aridos had thrown in the Synthetic version of her. "You're welcome."

Seryn purred and wrapped her front paws around my chest in a gentle hug. I said nothing as I stroked her back fur like I had with Tails. She was really sweet and innocent. I couldn't let anything happen to her.

Seryn then pushed off of me and tried to balance herself on two legs, but she couldn't quite get the hang of it yet and dropped down to all fours. I noticed that her legs were longer than I had originally thought, allowing her to reach a height of about four feet off the ground. She chuckled and looked up at me.

"I hope you don't mind me walking like this. I haven't quite gotten the hang of standing on two legs yet."

I shook my head. "No, not at all. You just do what you want and stand when you're ready."

Seryn cooed and looked around me at the dining room where my balloon friends had gathered. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

I turned around and saw the others looking at me with indecisive looks on their faces. I smiled and beckoned for them to come back in the living room. "It's okay. She's not gonna bite or pop you or anything."

They all looked at each other for a moment and then came back into the living room to introduce themselves to Seryn.

"Hello, Seryn," said Tails, tickling her under the chin. On four legs, she was just about his height. "My name's Tails."

"Tails..." said Seryn, giving his furry cheek a lick. "You're so soft and furry. I like you a lot."

She then turned to Blaziken, who bowed and patted her on the head. "Call me Blaziken. I'm everyone's unelected bodyguard."

Quite a few eyes rolled when he said this, but Seryn didn't seem to mind. She brushed against his leg and purred intently. "Blaziken... You're so warm. You must be a Fire-Type or something, right?" Blaziken nodded and scratched her behind the ears. She then looked at Yoshi.

"I'm a Yoshi, but you can call me Yoshi. I'm the one with a big appetite." To show his affection, Yoshi stuck out his long tongue and hooked it around Seryn's chin. She seemed to enjoy the feeling of the rubbery appendage and gave him a playful swat with her tail.

"Yoshi... You're kind of cute just like me. I think we could get used to each other's best efforts."

I seemed to be the only one that didn't fully understand that, but I didn't show it. After a small cleaning by Yoshi, Krystal walked around to face Seryn and introduce herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Seryn. My name is Krystal." She then leaned over and whispered something in Seryn's ear than none of us heard. From the smirk on her face, the Flammie liked what she heard and climbed up on Krystal like a dog standing on two legs to place its paws on its owner's chest. She then gave her face a quick lick and then climbed back down.

"Krystal... If that's what you say, then I'll go with that," she said with a slight giggle.

Finally, the tallest one of us approached the plastic Flammie. Lugia stood over Seryn, but instead of letting her come to _his_ level, he knelt down and went to _her_ level.

_Welcome to our family, Seryn the Flammie. My name is Lugia. I am this family's unappointed leader and Guardian. It's a pleasure to meet you in person._

Seryn looked at Lugia's eyes and for some reason, bowed down in front of him as if she was genuflecting in front of him.

"Lugia... You are very wise and noble. I promise to abide by yours and Alex's rules as best I can."

Lugia put a hand under her chin and brought her back to his level. _That's all I need to hear. Just remember, as long as you are happy, we are happy._

Seryn smiled and watched Lugia stand back up. _What do you say, friends? Shall we give Seryn a little added advantage?_

Almost immediately, I knew what he meant, and so did the rest of us. Lugia was going to use his powers to enable her to walk on two legs anthro-like, just like he could. Seryn, though, looked confused and watched as we all stepped back except for Lugia, who spread his wings wide and placed his hand on her head. After muttering a few indistinct words, Lugia's eyes glowed a bright blue and Seryn's body was surrounded by a matching aura.

And then in one fluid motion, Seryn seemed to stretch as she stood up onto two feet. Her arms grew a little longer and her center of gravity shifted so she could walk around on two legs now. Her footpaws took a digitigrade-like stance just like Lugia and Krystal. When it was all done, Seryn was now more anthro-like than she had previously been.

Seryn looked over her new form with absolute awe. She seemed to be over the moon for what Lugia had done for her and the look in her eyes said it all. She didn't even need to say a word.

Lugia nodded and then motioned to the others to follow him, allowing me and Seryn to have the living room to ourselves. They all retreated into the next room while Seryn and I planned our first night together.

Remarkably, Seryn already had an idea. "Have you ever flown through the city under a full moon before?"

I blinked and then shook my head. "I don't think so. Is it any fun?"

Seryn looked like I had "insulted" her, but she didn't take it that way. "Is it fun?! It's one of the most amazing things you'll ever do as a Flammie! If you choose me to have you converted, I want to show you what you'd experience on a nightly basis. Wanna come with me?"

I figured it was worth a try. It would help me choose who I wanted to have as my partner when the time finally came.

Seryn smiled and spread her arms. "Come here, then. Let me give you a front-row seat."

I knew that she wanted me inside her, but that didn't bother me this time. I had done it twice before, so this time, there were almost no surprises. I started towards her, but Seryn suddenly dropped her arms and shook her head.

"Those won't do. You'll want to feel this on every square inch of your body."

I figured she meant my clothes, so against my better judgment, I took off my shirt and slid off my pants so that I was in my boxers once again. Now feeling slightly exposed, I allowed Seryn to gently turn me around so she could pull me against her rugged, furry body.

I had been absorbed by my balloon friends before, but there was something different about being absorbed by a plastic one that made it even more enjoyable. It was like I was taking a cool, relaxing shower that flowed over my entire body at once. Seryn slowly pressed me into her body and before I knew it, I was fully encased by her plastic form.

"That felt great!" I said, trying to move. But for some reason, I didn't feel like I should have. "Hey, Seryn... what's up? I can't move anymore."

"That's because I've already merged your body with mine. I'm the one in control now, but I promise that I won't hurt you."

Boy, did she work fast! I suddenly realized that my body had already dissolved inside her air-filled form, leaving almost no indication that I was inside of her. The only thing I could do was look through her eyes at the world around me. But unlike being merged with Lugia or Blaziken, there was a distinct difference while looking through Seryn's eyes.

Everything around me seemed to be oddly-tinged but distinctly sharper. It was like I had been given the ability to see tones and colors in the world around me that made everything seem – there was no other word for it – better. Everything looked better than it did before, and I noticed that almost everything had varying levels of blue added to them.

"Wow..." I said as Seryn looked around my apartment. "This is amazing! But... why am I seeing so much blue?"

Seryn and I shrugged at the same time. "It's just the way I am. It's not offensive, is it?"

"No! Not at all! It's just... different, is all. I guess now I know why your eyes are so blue."

Seryn chuckled and seemed to be "petting" me with her mind like Blaziken had done to her with his paw. "Oh, Alex... You are indeed someone I could grow to like." The sensation made me feel comfortable and relaxed at the same time. I was enjoying it probably about as much as she enjoyed sharing her body with me.

Seryn and I then looked out the window at the moon, which was rising rather quickly by now. "Well, Alex... shall we?"

"We shall. Anytime you're ready."

And with that, Seryn and I used her body at the exact same time to walk over to the balcony and slid open the door. Since she was the one in more control than me, I let her have her way and do with what she pleased. After we were out on the balcony, Seryn used her tail to slid the door shut again and then look out into the city.

"Get ready, Alex. This might be a little overwhelming for your first flight with me."

I mentally shrugged and shook my head. "After living life with balloons for the past week-and-a-half, nothing will surprise me anymore. Go for it."

Seryn nodded, spread each of her four feathery wings, climbed up on the railing and jumped into the air. Unlike Lugia, Seryn was in the air immediately. There was no sudden drop to get ready – only the sensation of all four wings flapping in rhythm as the two for us gained altitude. I knew that once at altitude, Flammie didn't even _need_ to flap his wings to stay airborne, but right now, Seryn needed every ounce of power in her wings to get us _to_ altitude. All the while, I could feel every one of Seryn's unseen muscles working to pump each of her four wings to get us up to altitude. I never knew that Flammies were so physically fit that they could flap all four of their wings at once, even though Seryn was made of plastic.

Suddenly, I felt my vision go black. I thought I had been cut off from Seryn's mind, but she quickly explained what she was doing. "I want this to be a surprise for you. Don't worry about it; I'll bring you back once we're at altitude." She must have had her reasons, so I dealt with it until she was ready to "surprise" me.

I remained in the dark for a few minutes. I would have gone crazy from the lack of senses that Seryn was giving me if it wasn't for the fact that she was still with me. In fact, she was all around me and I knew that she would never abandon me like this. I doubted that ANY of my friends would abandon me when I needed them most.

Finally, I felt Seryn reach her highest possible altitude and she reopened my senses so that I could see and feel everything around me again. What I saw nearly took my breath away.

We were so high in the air that I couldn't even see cars on the roads down below. But that wasn't the point of this flight. Up above us, the full moon was shining down on the land far below us, giving everything a natural radiance. We were far from Willmar, but the lights of the small towns and whatnot looked like little stars shining from the earth's surface. It was so amazing that I could barely describe it.

Speaking of stars, when Seryn looked up at the night sky, I was completely speechless. Without the glare of the city lights, I could see so many more stars than I ever could before, even when I was growing up on my parents' farm. I couldn't even make out any of the constellations from the sheer number of stars up there. It was... there was no other world for it – beautiful.

"What do you think, Alex?" Seryn asked me as we soared high above the earth. "Is it not something that only I can give you?"

I didn't know what to say. While being merged with Lugia, I had flown alongside Tails at this altitude. But Seryn had outdone herself by bringing me out on the night of a full moon and gave me the honor of flying alongside her under the stars. It was truly a sight to behold.

"I... I... It's amazing Seryn." That was all I could say.

But suddenly, I felt a brand-new sensation flowing through me. It was like pure, unadulterated energy was entering "my" body and flowing through my veins, giving me strength and energy like no other. I could feel true power welling up inside of me like I had consumed the mother of all energy drinks without crashing afterwards.

"What is this feeling, Seryn?" I asked her as I soaked up every ounce of it that I could. "I feel so... powerful... and capable."

Seryn grinned and rolled over on her front so that we were looking straight up at the night sky. "It's the power of moonlight, my love. Even as a Synthetic Flammie, the power of the moon is what gives me my power and energy. It doesn't even have to be full to give me its full benefits, but the night of a full moon is like no other."

"The... the moon?" I was confused. I hadn't heard anything about Flammies getting their energy from the moon before.

"Of course. They don't tell you everything in those games, you know. Flammies have always relied on the moon to give them strength and energy like no other. You should consider yourself lucky that I had the state of mind to bring you on this flight. Maybe..." She paused, thinking deeply. "Maybe if you choose me as your counterpart, we can do this _every_ night. Flammies get their energy from the moon and almost never have to sleep except for when they want to or on the night of a new moon. It's just something for you to think about."

She had a point. This experience was almost like no other that I had already faced. Maybe Seryn would be the one that I chose as my Synthetic partner.

But despite the overwhelming amount of power flowing through me, I was still human and I was starting to grow tired. I yawned mentally and spoke to Seryn before I nodded off.

"I'm glad that you and I could do this, Seryn. But... haaa... I'm still very tired and I need to sleep. May I call it a night for tonight?"

Seryn smiled and rubbed her belly, soothing me even more. "Very well, my love. Go and visit the Dream World for tonight. I will fly for a little while longer under the full moon until I am ready to head home. Sweet dreams, Alex, and good night."

With those comforting words, Seryn allowed my mind to drift off to a peaceful and well-deserved sleep. She was really someone I could grow to like and trust... really...

**Chapter 8: Judgment Day**

I woke up well-refreshed under the covers of my own comfortable bed back in my apartment. I had enjoyed my flight in the moonlight with Seryn so much that I just wished that I could have stayed awake a little longer to stay with her mind and enjoy myself even more.

But just as I was about to get out of my bed, I felt something on top of me that was holding me in place. Looking to my side, I realized that Seryn had curled up in bed with me, her arm and left wings wrapped around my side, holding me close to her. I realized that Seryn must have expelled me from her body late last night, but for some reason, I was not covered in the usual latex slime that remained from my other encounters. I then realized that Seryn was made of plastic and therefore worked a little differently than the others did. Go figure.

I couldn't lie here forever, so against my better judgment, I nudged Seryn with my free arm, which caused her to open her eyes slightly and smile at me.

"Good morning, Alex," she said softly, giving me that cute Flammie grin. "Did you have fun last night?"

I smiled back at her and nodded. "I did. I've never had a more wonderful night out with my best friends. I'm glad that I was able to spend the night with you."

Seryn purred as I tickled her fur. "Thank you, Alex. I'm glad you had fun."

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "I suppose I'd better get up."

Although comfortable, Seryn knew I had to, so she released me and allowed me to slide out of bed. She soon followed after me and helped me get ready for my day.

When the two of us went out to the living room, there was something distinctly different here. None of my balloon friends were here waiting for me. Tails, Lugia, Blaziken, Yoshi and Krystal were all missing in action, leaving just me and Seryn in my empty apartment.

"Where did everybody go?" I asked her.

Seryn shrugged. I don't know. They weren't here last night when I came back, either."

_They're all at our new home._

The two of us turned around to see Lugia closing the front door behind him. He looked as real as he was going to get, which led me to believe that he had just acquired his Bio-Balloon status while we were out.

"Lugia?" said Seryn. "You look as great as ever. You must have upgraded while we were out."

Lugia nodded. _I did, indeed. I feel much more capable than I did just last night._

"But how did you get this way overnight?" I asked him curiously. "You weren't anywhere _near_ 100 opaque last night."

Lugia shrugged. _I have my ways; let's just leave it at that._

I couldn't argue with that, so I asked him a more pressing question. "What did you mean by everyone being at our "new home"?"

Lugia decided he needed to sit down to explain this. Seryn and I did likewise. Whatever he had to say must have been important for him to sit down to say it. Once we were all seated, Lugia folded his hands and Seryn and I leaned forward to listen intently.

_I've got some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?_

I looked at Seryn, who shrugged and muttered, "It's up to you."

I had never been one to like getting depressed after good news, so I decided to get the bad news over and done with.

Lugia read my thoughts exactly as I thought them and nodded. _Very well. The bad news is that our family will not be getting any bigger. Aridos contacted me and said that the last two balloons in our series had had second thoughts about having a family and have decided to stay with him._

This _was_ a disappointment. The only two balloons left in the series had been Shiron the Windragon from Legendz and Mewtwo from Pokémon. These were two of the most independent and powerful balloons in the series, so I guess I understood why they wanted to stay behind. I figured that it wasn't all that bad anyway. My apartment had been getting a little cramped to live in with five other balloons and an inflatable toy living with me. It was probably for the best.

Obviously, Lugia heard me think this and smiled. _Speaking of your apartment, that brings me to the good news. You've probably been wondering what I've been doing at night for the past week-and-a-half, right?_

I _was_ wondering where he had been disappearing to almost every night since he had arrived. I had always thought that he enjoyed flying in the moonlight, but some days, he wouldn't return home until well into the daylight. Where _had_ he been running off to all this time?

_The good news is that I've been making preparations for our family to get our very own special place._ When Seryn and I continued to look blank, he explained. _I knew that we would be running out of space in this small apartment ever since it was just you, me and Tails. So ever since then, I've been making nightly trips out to the country to set up a brand-new place for all of us to live peacefully and quietly._

By now, we were on the edge of our seats, causing Lugia to smile and continue on. _But this is no ordinary place. Aridos and I have managed to construct a special zone for each of us on the property. There's a machine shop and runway for Tails to practice his tinkering, a broad, deep ocean-like environment for me, a tower where Blaziken can practice his fighting and fire-breathing skills, an island getaway for Yoshi to have fun, a mixed setting of urban and rural environments to make Krystal to make herself feel at home and a tropical island resort where Miss Seryn can fly and enjoy herself for as long as she wants._

As he said this, I ticked them off my fingers, but I only came up to six. "Hey, what about me? I'm the one who brought you all back to life! Don't I get any say in this?"

Lugia chuckled and smiled coyly. _Now I would never leave you out of the deal, would I?_ I blinked. _I didn't think so. You get the best deal out of the entire property. In the very center of the area Aridos and I set aside, there is an impressive Victorian house that we can all use whenever we're all together for meals and such._

I could hardly believe this. "Are you serious?"

Lugia nodded. _I've never been able to lie before and I'm not willing to start now. Now... I suppose you two would like to see your new home, yes?_

Seryn and I beamed at each other. "Of course we would!" we said at once.

Lugia smiled and stood up. _Well then, shall we go?_ He spread his arms and wings and the two of us felt strangely lightheaded for a moment before we both whited out as we Teleported to our new home.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of an impressive green field. All of my balloon friends were lined up in front of me as Lugia, Seryn and I appeared out of thin air. After I had gotten the cobwebs out of my head, I was able to focus on what was going on.

"Welcome home, Alex!" everyone said at once.

I looked at my friends for the first time in over a day and bits and pieces of our experiences appeared in my mind as I relived our lives together. They were all there waiting to welcome me into my new home. What's more, they were all Bio-Balloons – something that hadn't been possible just yesterday.

As I looked at Tails' golden-yellow-and-white vulpine form, the memory of him and I walking through the park flashed in my mind. He had been covered in cooking spray to make him appear more real than before and he was signing a small notebook for an ecstatic fan of his. He had been with me since the very beginning and would continue to be with me for as long as we were together.

As I looked at the impressive anthro version of Lugia, the memory of when we had been fused together replayed in my mind's eye. We had been flying high in the sky with Tails next to a 747 airliner. I could remember the look of pure shock of the people we had seen in the windows as they tried to figure out what they had seen. It was my first merging and it was something I was not likely to forget any time soon.

The rich, flaming-red and yellow fur and raw, powerful form of Blaziken would always have a spot in my memory. I could remember merging with him as the two of us trained in Aridos' VR simulator. And when we had separated, I recalled every fine detail of when I had been a Charizard and the two of us had battled one Fire-Type against another. We had taken each other to the very brink of our beings to prove who had been the best. It had been a draw, but we had enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

The green-and-white form of Yoshi had made its mark in my adventure, although it hadn't exactly been a pleasant one. I could still feel his long, elastic tongue wrapping around my body before he swallowed me whole and nearly ended my life in that liquid-filled egg. Even though it had nearly been a catastrophe, we were still friends and we were still making up for that one incident.

The lithe, blue, lupine form of Krystal had been one of the most unique of all my friends. She had arrived in her new life with fear and misunderstanding. She was scared and vulnerable, but like the friends we were, the rest of us had pitched together and helped her get used to her new life. Now, she was one of the most loyal of all of them and the kindest, most pure-hearted person I had ever met, balloon or otherwise.

Finally, there was the special, unique memories that the pure-white, furred-and-feathered form of Seryn the Flammie had shared with me. During my third merging, she had shown me a part of the world that none of the others could come close to matching. I had never had such a wonderful nighttime experience in my whole life. And the fact that she was composed of plastic instead of latex seemed to indicate that she was one of the most unique creatures I had ever met.

I still wished that Shiron and Mewtwo could have joined our ranks. There was no telling what kind of adventures the eight of us could have had together. But their decisions couldn't be helped, so we would have to move on with our lives. The point was that the six of them had forever changed my life and soon, one of them would leave their permanent imprint on me as I was officially added to my unique family.

_Well, Alex..._ said Lugia as he traced my every memory. _Would you like to see each of our areas before you make your decision?_

"Yeah," Tails piped up. "I wanna show you something that I'm working on. Maybe we can work on it together."

"I'm looking forward to it," added Blaziken. "I could use a sparring partner."

"Maybe we can relax and play together," chimed in Yoshi. "I know just the perfect place."

"It's all coming down to this," said Krystal. "One of us will get the honor of becoming your counterpart. I just hope that you make the right decision."

"If you pick me..." said Seryn hopefully. "We can fly together as long as time will allow."

I was still trying to make up my mind. I knew I still had about five days to make a decision, but if they wanted me to choose today, I was just fine with that.

"Very well. Let's take a look at what I'll be looking forward to."

They all nodded at once and Lugia approached me with what appeared to be a wristband in his hand. He asked me to hold out my hand, which I did, and he attached the band to my wrist.

_This is what we call a Warp Band. Our realms are so large and spread out that it would take you days to walk from one to another. This way, we can all move around the area with just a twist of this band._

Tails nodded and held up his arm. "It's very effective. We've all got one, see?"

Everyone held up their right arm except for Seryn, which Lugia now applied a Warp Band to. Each of them all had a similar-looking band around their wrist to enable quick teleportation around the areas.

Tails stepped forward. "Since I arrived first, wanna start with me?"

I nodded and Lugia showed me how to work the Warp Band. And with a twist, Tails and I disappeared in a flash to his chosen area.

Tails' area looked like a cross between the Mystic Ruins from Sonic Adventure DX and his workshop from the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie. Everything around us was lush and green with the same details as the real Mystic Ruins. If I chose Tails, I guess I could learn to like this.

Tails' workshop was at the top of the hill at the base of a long stretch of road. I didn't doubt that hidden underneath that road, the runway for Tails' Tornado resided.

"Well?" he asked me as we walked through the Mystic Ruins to the back area. "What do you think? Can Lugia pull through in a pinch or what?"

"I like it. But if this is the Mystic Ruins, does it also have..."

"Angel Island? Of course it does!"

He pointed up at what I assumed to be a wall of rock. Sure enough, if I stood back far enough, I could see the top of Angel Island from the game. And not too far in front of us was a hole in said island that let to the Master Emerald.

"Neat," I said in awe.

"I know. And if you pick me, I'll have a special surprise for you. Lugia and Aridos were even nice enough to bring the real Sonic and Knuckles here."

"Really? Where are they?"

Tails sadly shook his head. "Well, this area isn't fully installed yet, but they'll arrive soon enough."

"Oh..." That was a disappointment. I had been hoping to meet the real Sonic and Knuckles before I left, but I guess some things just couldn't be helped. "I'll think about it. But I want to visit the others' areas first."

Tails nodded. "Okay. Let me know who you choose before too long."

I smiled at him and tweaked the Warp Band around my wrist to take me to Lugia's area. With a flash of blue light, I teleported out of the Mystic Ruins...

...and wound up in an undersea cave somewhere in the world. I had thought that this area would be flooded, but there was obviously some kind of magic at work here.

_Well?_ said Lugia from a corner. _Is it a start or what?_ He was once again in his true form and had his wings folded at his sides as I looked around.

"Is this it?" I asked him.

Lugia shook his head. _This is all I've had time to install before I ran out of time. But soon enough, we'll be able to swim through the Beast of the Sea for as long as you want._

I looked at him. "How can you conceal all this without anyone else trespassing?"

Lugia walked over to me and wrapped a wing around my shoulders. _I can't tell you that yet, but let's just say that Aridos is a master of concealment. No one will ever bother us here._

I couldn't argue with that, so I walked over to the entrance of the cave where a small pool of water come up. Sticking my foot in the water, I shivered as it nearly froze my toes off.

Lugia chuckled. _I can fix that. It'll take a while, but I'll have it at a temperature that we can both handle._

I nodded and activated my Warp Band. "I'll think about it, Lugia. Let me get a look the others' areas first."

Lugia smiled as I disappeared to the next area. _I'm sure you'll make the right decision._

The next three areas – Blaziken's, Yoshi's and Krystal's – were also incomplete, but there was enough already installed that I could get a feeling of what to expect. Blaziken's area looked a lot like the Battle Islands from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. It was a place where – when complete – Blaziken could battle with a variety of wild Pokémon and even compete in the Battle Tower Challenge. If I chose him, he and I would go in together to face the Double Battle Challenge or even climb Stark Mountain. It was certainly something to consider.

Yoshi's area was just like I had always pictured it would be – a tropical island with a number of various-colored Yoshis that were already installed. I got quite a number of funny looks from the other Yoshis, but they seemed to be happy to see me. If I chose Yoshi as my counterpart, I would be able to relax and enjoy myself to nearly no end.

Krystal's area looked just like the areas on Starfox Adventures that I explored in the game. While only the first area, Thorntail Hollow had been installed, she assured me that we would be able to travel around the area and interact with some of the dinosaurs that made up the area. She had even shed her battle suit to take on a more "casual" look so she didn't look out of place here. It was certainly something to consider if I chose her in the end.

But the area that nearly took my breath away was Seryn's area. She had been given the privilege of having the entire island of Illusia granted to her. From the local village to the Guardian Beast's maze to Mortmont Mountain, Seryn had it made. Even the Great Tree was already there. Seryn told me that if I chose her, she and I would travel the island as friends, exploring nearly every place that I had seen in Dawn of Mana. It was truly a sight to behold.

Finally, it was time for me to choose my counterpart. All six of my friends had gathered in the central area to await my decision. They had all lined up in a row so that I could choose one of them without walking too far.

This was a tough decision. Every one of them had made such an incredible mark on my life that it was difficult to pick one over the other. Would I choose Tails' ingenuity, Lugia's wonders, Blaziken's determination, Yoshi's easygoing lifestyle, Krystal's freestyle life or Seryn's awe-inspiring ways?

As I walked in front of each of them, I considered all of the possibilities that each one could present to me. Even though I may pick one of them, that still didn't stop me from spending time with the rest of them. We would always be a family and closer friends than ever before. It was just that I would be closer to one of them than all the rest. Who was it going to be?

..."I've got it! I've made up my mind!"

The air was thick with anticipation. I was finally going to pick the one to become my counterpart. I turned to face all of them at once so that there was no way to immediately tell who I had chosen.

I sighed and looked at each of them in turn. "Every one of you have forever changed my life. I can't even remember when I have ever been happier to have friends like you. All of you have special traits that the other does not, which all influenced my decision... But there's only one of you that will have the honor of my company more than the others. That particular individual is...

...you!"

Unbelievably, none of them were surprised to see that I had chosen Seryn. In fact, they all looked like she deserved every bit of my honor. They all smiled and took turns shaking hands or paws with her, all the while giving her their congratulations.

"Good luck, Seryn," said Tails. Seryn had to lean over to shake his hand since he was so small.

_I know you two will be perfect for each other,_ said Lugia, wrapping a wing around her upper ones.

"You clearly outdid us all." Blaziken's grip was solid as he congratulated her.

"Luck must have had something to do with it," said Yoshi, who was slightly disappointed but glad nonetheless.

"I know you and Alex will be perfect for each other," said Krystal, tears in her eyes. She had obviously been looking forward to being picked, but her tears were from happiness instead of disappointment.

_Well... I guess we should leave you two alone,_ said Lugia, turning to the others. _Let's go back to our areas. The next time we see Alex, he'll be a brand-new Flammie that we can all be proud of._

They all went to their Warp Bands and all disappeared as one, leaving just Seryn and me in front of my Victorian mansion. Seryn then turned to me.

"Alex... I... You..."

I sighed and stepped forward to hug her plastic-furred body. Out of all of them, she hadn't yet become a Bio-Synthetic. She was nearly speechless after my decision and tears were welling up in her sparkling eyes.

"It's okay, Seryn," I said, running my hand up and down her side. "You can do it. After all, you deserved it."

Seryn looked down at me as she stroked my back with her massive paw and smiled. "Thank you, Alex. I won't forget you for this! Now... come inside me. Let's become partners forever more."

But instead of absorbing me like she had before, Seryn had to do it the old-fashioned way to covert me. She picked me up under the arms and held me at her eye level for the last time. I nodded and I could see tears still coming out of her eyes. Then as a final present in my human life, Seryn gave my cheek one last lick as though tasting me and kissing me at the same time. She then opened wide and began to stuff me down her throat.

I did not object as my head and shoulder slid over her plastic tongue and into her throat. She couldn't swallow me whole without choking (don't ask), so she swallowed me in gulps, all the while running her tongue over my arms and bare legs as though savoring their unique flavor. I could still hear her sobbing as I entered her tight, narrow throat and she slurped up my feet like a couple of noodles. I was soon emptied into a chamber deep inside her that I knew was her stomach. I lied inside her in a fetal position as she licked her muzzle and continued to cry.

"You tasted so delicious, Alex. I'm sorry that this had to happen."

"You don't need to apologize, Seryn. We did this for each other. You should be glad that we'll be closer than ever before."

Seryn sniffed and rubbed her now-bloated belly. "I guess it IS for the best. Besides, we'll be even more than friends."

"We'll be mates," I finished for her.

Seryn nodded and continued to massage her belly. "Mates. You said a mouthful there."

As she massaged her bloated gut, I started to feel a kind of slimy, milky-white, plastic goo starting to well up under me. I soon realized that it was my legs that were starting to liquefy and lose feeling altogether. It was dark in here, but I could still feel them starting to numb up.

Seryn giggled as my legs "goo-ified" and the liquid started to work on my torso. "That tickles! You feel like I've got bubbles in my belly."

To add to her blissful feeling, I used my arms one last time to massage the walls of the chamber that was liquefying me. From the inside, I could hear Seryn cooing and purring happily. My torso was losing feeling and the plastic-smelling goo was starting to splash around me whenever she moved.

"That feels funny! Quit it!" she said playfully. She jumped up and down on her back paws from me "tickling" her, causing the goo to splash all over me.

"I just thought I'd try and make you feel a little better before the end." My arms were starting to weigh a ton and I couldn't feel them as well as I could before.

"Okay, if you want to be that way, let's pick up the pace."

She stopped jumping and held her belly with both paws. She then started bouncing on her toes so that the goo could envelop me even faster. I was struggling to stay awake, but I was able to get one more thing out of my mouth to give Seryn the courage to keep it up.

"See you... on the other side... my love."

Seryn stopped bouncing and returned to stroking her bloated belly, all the while purring and giving me one last thing to think about before the goo swallowed me entirely.

"Good-bye, Alex. I love you – nothing will ever change that."

But I was already gone and asleep inside the plastic goo that had once been my entire being.

**Epilogue**

As Alex drifted into a deep and well-deserved sleep, Seryn continued to massage her plastic gut so that he would be comfortable as he passed on. She looked horribly disfigured as a Flammie, but she would soon fix that. She now had about ten gallons of liquid human inside of her. She would have to be very gentle when she brought him back into the world as a Synthetic. So to start out with, she activated the Warp Band around her wrist and teleported back to her area where she would have all the privacy in the world.

Once she was safely hidden away inside the Guardian Beast's Labyrinth (which had been named in her honor),

Seryn curled up and whispered to the liquid inside of her, even though Alex couldn't hear her anymore.

"You've done so much for me, my love. Now it's my turn to repay the favor."

She then stood up and began the process of bringing Alex back to life. She took a page out of Lugia's book and forced some of the goo inside her belly up her throat and into her mouth. She swished it around to savor the flavor she had tasted when she had first devoured him before coating her tongue with it and starting to blow. Like Lugia had done to Krystal, she blew a massive bubble of plastic liquid, even though _her_ bubble was a milky-white color instead of blue. She made sure not to waste a single drop of Alex's essence as she poured her heart and soul into making this bubble as perfect as she could.

Once it was at full size, Seryn bit down on the end, did a little dancing motion with her tongue and then spat out the end and grabbing the new nozzle in-between her talons. Almost every bit of Alex was in this balloon except for what made up his mind and soul -- that part still resided inside her. She then stuck the nozzle back in her mouth and began to blow again.

This time, it did not inflate but instead began to take a definitive shape and form. Like herself, Seryn was molding the bubble into the form of a Flammie, but with distinct differences than her own. While it took the form of a Flammie, the coloring of it was obviously different. Instead of a pure-white color, it took a deep, shadowy-violet color with crimson-colored hair, wings and plates. Its pads and talons were a rich, sapphire-blue and its eyes were a piercing-red color. Finally, it also had _two_ fangs on each side of its muzzle instead of Seryn's one.

All in all, it looked like it was a figure of evil, but Seryn knew better. She had given Alex a form of power and privilege. There had not been a single sliver of evil inside Alex's heart and she knew that the others would have used a similar look if _they_ had been chosen.

Then with one more breath, Seryn injected Alex's mind and soul into the new Synthetic Flammie and then plugged the stopped and pushed it into the back of his neck. He was complete.

The new and improved Alex opened his eyes wearily and looked down at his new body. He seemed a little dazed after what he had gone through, but he was otherwise fine. Seryn stepped in front of him so that he could look at her for the first time.

"Seryn... thank you." That was all he had to say.

The two of them looked at each other with longing before embracing each other in a hug. They were happy and that was all that mattered to them. That had been Alex's entire reason for bringing his balloon friends into his life. He lived to make them happy and now, one of them had finally returned the favor. Life couldn't have gotten any better for them.

From a lookout point above their area, Karmen Aridos looked down on the newly reunited Flammies with a smile on his face. He was glad that this had all worked out and that Alex and the others were satisfied with their new lives. He would return to his shop first thing tomorrow morning and inform his boss that the sale was a success. Even though Shiron and Mewtwo had had second thoughts, he was now guaranteed a spot in the Wizarding Hall of Fame.

His work done, Aridos sighed, turned, walked away... and vanished just like Vega had done. Life was good and it was only going to get better once he got back. It just showed what could happen to those who paid an innocent visit to the world of Plushtopia.

THE END

Coming soon from shadowlugia249:

"Ruki Mood in More Mood Mischief Act 1" – A new Ruki Mood adventure


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